Falling For You
by dreambee
Summary: Kazuha and Heiji are young and are best friends, but one day they find out that she has to move to Europe! Ten years pass and after a bad experience, Heiji has given up on love. But what happens when his childhood friend comes back?
1. Chapter 1

So as promised, my new fanfic. But also, I had a friend who helped with some ideas, so they are also credited for this fanfic, thanks** salimaran08**!

Hope you guys like it!

000

"Ne Heiji? Where are we going?"

"Shhh!"

It was a summer and every kid was playing outside in the warm weather. Well...all but two. Hattori Heiji and Toyama Kazuha were right outside the door of the Toyama's residence. Kazuha's hopes of playing hide and seek with her best friend were ruined as Heiji led her back to her house.

"If you wanna go in, all you have to do is open the door ahou" she got up and brushed the dirt off her shorts, "Why are we at my house anyways?" Heiji gave her a look of annoyance and pulled her back down to a crouching position, he gave her a glare as he whispered, "my dad's here, so that must mean they're talking about a case ahou"

Kazuha just rolled her eyes. "Now be quiet, come on" they went in her house. Heiji crept upstairs, making sure no one had spotted them, "Okay...I think we're good-ahou! Get down!" but Kazuha just climbed the stairs, not caring if anyone spotted her. When she reached the top she looked back down at him and stuck out her tongue. Heiji ran up the stairs and grabbed her hand and pulled her into the nearest closet.

"What do you think you're doing!" Kazuha yelled but quickly felt her mouth covered up by his small hand. He lifted one finger up to his mouth telling her to be quiet and opened the door just a crack to see outside. They both stood still as they heard voices.

"Are you sure about this?"

"No, not really, but it'll be like a fresh start...for the both of us" Kazuha widen her eyes a bit as she heard her father

"I understand. Well, here's luck to the both of you"

"Arigato, we'll miss you surely"

Their voices faded away meaning they were gone. Heiji let out a sigh as he opened the door. "What was that all about?" Kazuha asked innocently as she exited the closet. Heiji crossed his arms, "Well whatever it was, it wasn't about a case that's for sure"

He had hoped that they could eavesdrop on them and hear about a new case, _maybe next time_ he thought to himself. He opened his eyes, and looked around. There were boxes everywhere, "Ne, Kazuha" she looked up at him, "has there always been this many boxes before?"

She looked around and noticed the great amount of big brown boxes for the first time. She shook her head, "No, but there must be at least twenty!"

Heiji sighed, "There's just twelve ahou" he walked up towards one of them and looked inside. He pulled out a box and stared at it, "Is this yours?" He continued staring at it, _it's really pretty_ he thought. He stopped admiring it after noticing she didn't answer him, "ahou are you deaf? I asked if this was yours?" he turned around, expecting her to reply with an 'ahou', but she was looking down at the ground instead.

"W-What's wrong?"

She walked towards him and grabbed the box from him. "This was mom's" she opened it, "she kept her rings and necklaces in here" and indeed there were beautiful jewels inside. Heiji's eyes softened. Kazuha's mom had been caught in a car crash not too long ago, _it was just about three weeks ago _he thought. She was driving while Kazuha was in the back seat. It was late at night and some guy was driving while drunk. Kazuha was the only survivor...

"G-Gomen"

She wiped her eyes, but her tears were already falling, "I'm sorry, daddy told me that I shouldn't cry in front of people" she tried to put up a smile, but Heiji could see past it. He walked up to her and hugged her. She hugged him back as she started sobbing.

After a few minutes, Heiji led her downstairs, "Come on, we'll play hide and seek" he smiled as Kazuha's eyes lit up as she nodded.

He sighed inwardly_, _she had always been the type to never let anyone see her sad or cry, except rarely him. During the funeral, she had stayed quiet while friends and family members gave their condolences, but he had pulled her away to where no one else was near them. Only then was she able to show her true feelings. He remembered how much she cried that day and kept holding on to him, crying out that she wanted her mom back.

Until today, that was the last time he had seen her cry.

(A few hours later)

Heiji got in his dad's car and looked back to see Kazuha waving frantically at him. He waved back and then stared at his father. There was something that bothered him when he heard the two grown-ups conversation. _Why did he say he'd miss him? Is he going on a case? No...Mr. Toyama had said 'for the both of us'...does he mean kazuha as well? And what was with all those boxes? _There were so many things he couldn't understand. Frustrated, he decided to ask his dad later on.

When he got home, they were welcomed by his mother. He then went up to his room and started reading books from his favorite author; Ellery Queen. While reading, he suddenly stopped as something clicked in the back of his head.

He rushed out of his room and ran downstairs.

His mother looked at him in surprise, "What's the matter Heiji?"

He turned and saw his dad sitting down, drinking coffee and reading his daily newspaper. "Kazuha's _moving _away, isn't she" Hattori Heizo looked away from his newspaper to stare at his son. It was more of a statement than a question. He then returned back to his paper. "What makes you say that?" he was in fact curious as to how Heiji came up with this.

Heiji frowned, "Kazuha and I overheard Mr. Toyama and you talking and you said 'We'll miss you surely' _and _there were boxes all around, storage boxes with their household items" He crossed his arms, "Where are they going?"

Although Heiji couldn't see it, Hattori Heizo smirked behind his paper , "And you got all that from boxes and my words huh?" he turned the page, "Yes, they're going overseas and moving to France"

His words left a shocked look on his face, "Wh-Why?" He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see his mom. She smiled sadly, "Kazuha's father believes that it'll help them and with what happened to her mother..." he pulled himself away from his mother's touch.

"But they can't! They just can't go!" although he didn't want to admit it, he liked having Kazuha around, following him. She was his best friend...

Everyone stopped as the phone rang, his mother answered it, "Hello? Oh what a pleasant surprise Toyama-san" Heiji looked at her, "Oh, no I'm sorry, she's not here"

"What? Is Kazuha missing?" he called out, but his mother ignored him, "Sure, I'll call you if anything comes up, bye"

Heiji grabbed onto her dress, "What happened? Where's Kazuha?" She looked down at him, "She's not home, he said that he had a talk with her and that she just ran out" She sighed, "Oh I hope she's alright" After hanging up, she then noticed that her son was already opening the door, "And where do you think you're going this late young man?"

After quickly putting on his shoes, he called out, "I think I know where she is" and with that he left.

His mother sat next to her husband, without looking up, he simply said, "Don't worry, he knows how to take care of himself" She sighed, "It's not that" and then smiled, "I just really had my hopes of them two ending up together. This move ruins my plans of my future grandchildren" He laughed at his wife who was smiling at her own dream.

(With Heiji)

He ran as fast as he could, it was already dark. _That ahou, doesn't she know how dangerous it is to be out this late? _He ran past a few adults who just stared at him. He turned to the right and ran two more blocks before he spotted her sitting on the bench. Catching his breath, he slowly walked up to her and took his place right beside her. He looked ahead and saw cars passing by one by one.

It was the place of the crash.

Ever since then, whenever Kazuha felt down, she would always come to this bench and sit down. It gave her comfort to think about her mother.

Kazuha didn't have to look up to know who it was, "I'm moving..." Heiji let his hair cover his eyes, "I-I know...I found out just now"

She looked at him with teary eyes, "B-But I don't wanna go, I wanna stay here!"

"I want you to stay here too..."

She began to cry, but all Heiji could do was let her cry on his shoulder. This was the second time today he's seen her cry...he didn't like it.  
>he sighed as he dreaded what he was about to ask, "W-When are you..."<p>

She wiped her eyes, "In a week he said" _So soon? _He thought to himself, "Ne Kazuha...?"

He stopped midway. For some reason, Kazuha's face had lit up for a moment as she placed a smile on her face, "I actually have something for you" she began searching through her pockets, "I was meaning to give this to you some other time, but" she pulled out what seemed to be two necklaces, "this seems like the perfect time"

She handed him one of them, and laughed as he examined it. "I made this for the both of us"

He made a weird face, "An omamori?" She nodded, "This charm is for good luck and will keep both of us safe" she placed her own around her neck, "Remember you got us hand- cuffed that one time?" A shade of red appeared on his face as he remember how they had to go to the bathroom together, "y-yeah, so?"

"Well I used part of the chain from those hand-cuffs and added them to the chains, neat huh?"

"Aww 'Zuha, you can't honestly believe in charms and superstition?" it earned him a glare from her, "Wear it always! It'll keep you safe! Plus...it's something for you to remember me when I'm gone" she said slowly. He watched her try to smile and groaned, "Fine" he placed it around his neck.

"Pinky promise!" she held out her small pinky finger. He smiled, this was a promise they had decided none of them could ever break, EVER.  
>With a smirk, he wrapped his pinky around hers.<p>

"Pinky promise"

000

(A week later)

_Boat to France is now boarding. I repeat, Boat To France is now boarding._

"Come on Kazuha, that's us" Her father lifted their bags, "Goodbye Heiji, watch over your father for me okay?"

Heiji nodded.

Kazuha stared at him, he smiled back sadly, "So...I guess this is goodbye?" A lump formed in his throat as he tried his best not to cry. She gave him a genuine smile, "Who said it was 'goodbye' ahou?" he gave her a confused look, "I'll see you soon" she said with a wink, he couldn't help but smile and nod

She began to walk away, but before she entered the ship, she felt herself being pulled back. Heiji wrapped his arms around her as he gave her one last hug.

"See you soon" he whispered

He stayed until the ship was out of sight. Small streaks of tears stained his cheeks as he held onto his omamori tightly against his chest.

000

So how was it? It's a little sad I know, but it'll get better =) Please review and tell me your thoughts! Arigato! Next chapter will be up soon, promise!

Ten years will have passed by. What's happened during those ten years? Find out in the next chapter!

Arigato!

Dreambee


	2. Chapter 2

So as promised, here is the new chapter! =D

I do NOT own the characters or manga/anime (although I wish so I could make Heiji finally confess to kazuha) only thing I own are the characters I make up in the story =)

Enjoy!

000

(Ten years later)

"HEIJI! Get up or you'll be late for the first day of school!" It was Monday morning of August where in Osaka, the weather was usually nice and warm. So in the Hattoris' residence, at the sound of his mother's yelling, with a groan, a young man hid himself under his covers, "five more minutes..." his words slurred out as he rolled to his left side, away from the window which was already shedding some light into his room. It was then unusually quiet. Thinking he had gotten his wish, he smiled smugly to himself as he got comfortable.

But it was soon wiped off as he then felt two strong hands grab onto his cover, _what the..._he let out a loud groan as he fell off his bed.

"Young man, when I say get up, you get up" Heiji rubbed the now formed bump on his head as he looked at his mother who was smiling down at him. "Oh and breakfast is ready"

He let out a yawn, as he stretched out his arms, _great...school..._

After getting dressed, he casually walked past his bathroom and noticed the time. He let out a small yell of frustration as he realized he was gonna be late.

He ran downstairs and quickly scarfed down the food that had been prepared for him. "Thanks for breakfast! Bye!"

And just like that he was out the door.

His mother sighed, "He never changes does he?"

(With Heiji)

_Damn it, how could I have overslept! _he was running as fast as he could, "It's cuz of last night's case" he answered himself but quickly shook his head, _argh_ _no time for that, I'm gonna hear it from the teacher if I don't make it on time..._he stopped and looked around, he had only ran a few blocks which brought him to a nearby neighborhood. The school was just 7 more blocks away, but he had prepared for situations like these years ago.

With a smirk he began running, knowing how it'd all play out, _first the fence, _and just as he thought, there before him was a six feet wired fence. He sped up to gain speed as he launched himself off the ground, jumping over it with ease. He stood still, _now the dog..._and as if on cue, a medium size rottweiler came rushing out from his dog house, growling at the intruder.

Heiji stood still, but slowly, he lifted his right hand and reached for his back pocket. The dog growled louder, eyeing his every move.

He pulled out a small bone shaped dog treat, and smirked as he noticed the dog's eyes light up. In a second the rottweiler was on top of him wagging his tail. "Hey boy" he laughed out, "long time no see, missed me didn't ya?" the dog licked his face in response, "Okay okay" he got up and tossed the treat at him, to which he happily ate. He nudged Heiji's leg with his head, "Who's a good boy?" he asked playfully while scratching his ears, "Kay, well I gotta go, but don't worry, I'm pretty sure I'll see you soon"

The dog barked as Heiji jumped over another fence. _Now just gotta reach the cafe, _he ran forward until a small shop appeared in front of him. Without stopping, he ran inside. People inside gave him looks and glares as he ran straight past them into the back.

But the workers there just smiled, "First day of school and you're already late?" one of them called out jokingly. Heiji smiled and waved back at them, "Morning!" Then continued on to the back door. Once past it, he sprinted off to the right.

_And there it is, _a two-story building appeared. Osaka high school was built a decade ago, but it still looked fairly new, thanks to the students and faculty members who took pride in their school. Hattori Heiji was beginning his third year in high school, he's one of the top academic students there and is captain of his school's kendo team...oh and publicly declared the Great Detective of the West.

He dreams of becoming an official detective like his father and therefore has involved himself with many of his dad's cases. Over the years, more and more murders seem to have followed him wherever he goes. And every one of them has been easily solved by him. Police and Inspectors all around ask for the high school detective's help.

_Four minutes left, _he smirked at his own thought, of course he'd make it. Running inside, he went straight to the stairs until he reached the second floor, and then opened the first door to the right.

He smiled at his teacher as the bell rang on time.

He walked happily to his seat, guys smirked at him while the girls stared at him with adoring eyes. Taking his seat, he looked back at the teacher who just cleared his throat, "Glad you could make it on time Hattori" Heiji grinned, "now, welcome back to school everyone, today..."

_Yup...back to boring old school..._already he was feeling his eye lids grow heavy, he yawned and sat back. He sat near the back next to the window, there was just one seat that was diagonally away from him that was empty. Other than that, one guy sat in front of him while another sat to his right.

He laid his head on his right hand and stared out the window that was to his left, he had a good view of the school's field. Every now and then he would just watch the students outside or just stare at the clouds, thinking about the latest case he solved.

Time went by slow, and it was no surprise he was the first to get up and leave the room as soon as the bell rang.

"Oi! Heiji wait up!" he stopped and looked over his shoulder to see one of his friends who was also on the Kendo team. "Hey Haru, what's up?"

Haru was about five feet and six inches tall, just a few inches shorter than Heiji, he was fairly good at Kendo. His hair was short and black, his eyes dark brown.

"What do you think about me asking Yumi out?"

He was also a big flirt.

Heiji gave him a look of annoyance, "why her?" Yumi, like them, was also in her third year of high school; she had red/brown hair that was long with curls. Every guy in school wanted to date her while every girl wanted to be like her. You could say she was popular, but to Heiji, she was just a stuck up, conceited girl who liked to bully others. Mainly new students or the ones who she considered 'not pretty enough to have the privilege of being in her presence', _or something like that_, he thought to himself.

Either way, he didn't like her, but there was just one problem...

"She's the hottest girl here! But nah never mind, she's already got her eyes set on you man"

She had this big crush on him. Practically every girl did, and why wouldn't they? He's smart, athletic, and a famous detective.

"Like I already said, not interested" He began walking away, but Haru ran after him. "I don't get it" Heiji continued walking, "Get what?"

Haru looked up in thought, "Every time a girl asks you out, you reject them"

"Yeah? So?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "...Why?"

A frown formed on his face, "I have to go" Haru stopped and watch him walk away.

Heiji, once outside, sighed to himself, "...it'd just be like last time...pointless" his phone rang, he answered it.  
>Another case.<p>

He ran north, the police station wasn't too far from here.

_pointless..._

000

Sooo? I know, it's not the most exciting chapter, but I need to slowly lead you into this story =)

Please review and tell me your thoughts!

Thanks to those who reviewed:

salimaran08: haha thanks, i don't know about the queen of H/K fanfics, but I hope I'm doing good =) thanks for everything!

Ayumi Kudou: Heiwa? cool! I didn't know that, thanks for your review!

HeiKazu: yup, Im in French two =) thanks! hope you like this fic!

ToKToK: really you think that? aww thanks! =D made this girl happy! lol Oh and about your question, no I'm not Arabian, I live in the U.S. my parents are both hispanic, but I really can't consider myself one cuz I don't know any spanish at all lol hope you like this fanfic!

000

Once again, thanks to all of you! Arigato!

Dreambee


	3. Chapter 3

Hey guys! sorry about the late update, but I'll try to update every week =)

So thanks for reviewing my last chapter! Hope you enjoy this one!

000

"STOP IT!" Everyone turned to face the lady in red, "...He's right...it was me" all but Heiji were in shock as they stared at the lady.

"I-I killed him" She began to tear.

"B-But why Aoi, why?" an older woman asked. With hatred, she rolled her hands into fists, "H-He lied to me, he said he loved me" she gritted her teeth at the next words, "I remember telling him how much I loved him" her eyes grew soft at the image, "he smiled and said he loved me too, but then..." her tears began to fall down her pale cheeks, "I saw him! I saw him from a window with another woman, they were laughing as they were hugging! That cheating bastard! How could he do that to me?"

The victim's sister began to cry, "Y-You're wrong! He loved you! He really did!" she grabbed Aoi's hand, "He was going to propose to you!"

Aoi's eyes widened, her words caught her off guard. "You're lying!"

She shook her head, "he told me he was finally going to propose to you, but that he wanted it to be perfect!" She smiled sadly at her, "he said you told him once how you always thought a guy playing the piano to a girl was romantic, he began taking lessons from her so he could play for you" She started crying, "he was going to propose to you after playing for you..."

Aoi froze, "he..he was taking...lessons..?" her legs gave out as began covering her mouth with her left hand, "wh-what did I do?" she started crying out loud, "Takshima!" her loud sobs made everyone feel sad for her, even the cops stood silent, pitying the poor woman"

Heiji looked back at them, "gomen" he silently said, then left the room

000

(At his house)

"Oh Heiji, you're back" he looked up at his mom, "solved the case already? That was quick"

He nodded as he started heading towards his room, "is something wrong?" she asked with a hint of worry

"No I'm fine" he smiled a little then entered his room and laid on his bed.

_(Flashback)_

_"Chou?" a black haired girl turned, her eyes blue. "Yes Hattori?" _

_he felt himself blush, "W-would you, umm would you..." She stared at him, "yes?" She stood there patiently, "Ummm" he swallowed, "Would you like to go out...with me?" He looked the other way, feeling a little embarrassed. It was until he heard her laughing that he turned around._

_"I would love to!"_

_(end of flashback)_

He let out a long sigh and stared at his ceiling until he finally drifted off to sleep.

000

"Heiji! You're going to be late for school, wake up!"

His eyes shot wide open, _Dammit__, _he got up and began to dress. His daily routine began as he took his shortcut. Once at the school, he noticed a crowd of students. Curious, he walked towards them. Once the other students saw him, they pulled away, letting him pass.

"So what's all this?" He asked, but his eyes soon widened at the sight of a guy and a girl. He recognized the guy at once, "Shinichi Kudo?"

At the sound of his name, he turned, "So you've heard of me" he casually said as he held out his hand, "You must be Hattori Heiji, high school detective of the west"

Everyone stared and waited to see what he'd do.

Heiji shook his hand, "So what is the detective of the east doing here in Osaka?" Shinichi smiled, "moved here just a few days ago" the girl next to him elbowed him in the side, "Actually, I moved here because of my dad, this guy" she glared at him, "decided to follow" she then turned to him, "I'm Mouri Ran, nice to meet you" they shook hands as well

"Well, I decided that I needed a change, besides, it's only temporary right?" he gave her a hopeful look

She nodded her head, "Yeah, dad's only gotta stay here for a year or two" Heiji stared at them, confused. "Wait, you moved here because of your girlfriend?"

Shinichi blushed a little, "I didn't say that"

All the girls around him began to 'awww' at him and Ran, "That's so romantic" one of them said

Ran smiled as she pecked him on the cheek, making him blush even more.

Heiji coughed, getting their attention, "Well, welcome to Osaka" he then smirked, "I guess we can now see who's the better detective" Shinichi smirked back, "We'll see"

Ran rolled her eyes, "Oh boy"

000

(Few months later)

"Oi Kudo!" He turned around to see Heiji running towards him, "So what'd you think about last night's case?"

He sighed, "Too easy"

Over the past few months Heiji and Shinichi had become good friends, solving case after case together. The media couldn't get enough of them, they declared them to be the greatest detectives, and the two grew widely popular much to Ran's dismay.

"So wanna go to the station tonight and see if there's another one?" Heiji at first wanted to prove to Shinichi that he was the better detective of them two, but after hanging out with him, he realized that it didn't matter anymore and that he enjoyed having him around. The cases grew harder and more interesting ever since he moved to Osaka.

"Sorry, can't" he looked at Ran who was sitting at the same table as them, eating her lunch, "Ran and I are going out to see a movie tonight"

It was lunch time and the three always sat together.

Ran waved her hand at him, "Oh no, it's okay Shinichi" He smiled at her, she was always reasonable and kind, one of the many things he loved about her. "Nope, we're going, besides, I'm not in the mood for another gruesome murder" he joked

The bell rang, each of them waved goodbye to each other and headed back to their class.

Once school was over, he decided to just go home, _if they need me they can call me_, he thought to himself. While walking, he passed by the park that was near by, he noticed that there was a girl just sitting on one of the swings. She seemed to be staring at nothing really, "Probably just thinking to herself" he told himself

But it didn't matter to him, girls were all the same to him.

_(Flashback)_

_"Heiji! You didn't have to get me this!" she held out her hand, admiring the new charm bracelet she had on. He just smiled, "I wanted to, do you like it?" _

_"Like it? I love it! Arigato!" she gave him a peck on the cheek to which he quickly blushed_

_(End of Flashback)_

He shook the memory away and noticed that the girl was gone. He shrugged his shoulders, trying not to think about it, but there was something about her that bothered him. He tired remembering how she looked.

_Her clothes did look different, nothing I've seen in Osaka_

When he realized he was home, he decided to think about it later and eat. "Hey mom, did you make dinner?" No answer, so he looked around the kitchen, no food prepared. His stomach growled as he opened the fridge to make a quick sandwich.

He took it to the couch and turned on the tv, watching baseball.

"Well if it isn't Hattori Heiji"

Startled, he looked up to see a girl standing to his right.

He swallowed the last bite of his sandwich.

000

Soooo? Please review! Kay so I'm pretty sure you guys know who this mysterious girl is, but if you somehow miraculously don't, you'll soon find out in the next chapter!

Thanks again to those who reviewed!

ToKToK: aww thanks! love your review! Hope that you'll like this story as much as my last two =)

HeiKazu: Me too! But she'll have to talk normal to him since he wont understand, but I'll write a part where she'll speak french =D

Ayumi Kudou: hahaha, don't worry, she wont be like by ANYONE =)

salimaran08: don't forget to study though! I promise to try to update about every week, with soccer, work and school, I hardly ever have time to write, but I'll do my best! =D

000

So thank you all for reviewing! I'll try to update every week!

Arigato!

Dreambee


	4. Chapter 4

hey guys! so as promised, here's the new chapter, hope you like it!

000

(a week days ago)

17 year old Toyama Kazuha sat on the roof of her apartment, or what would be her old apartment. She rested her head on one hand, staring at one of the seven wonders, the eiffel tower. It was dark outside, so the tower was lit, shining its beauty to all of France. The air was cool, and she could smell fresh bread being made by the store across from where she lived.

"I'm sure gonna miss this place..."

_(Flashback of earlier that day)_

_"WHAT? We're moving!" Her dad covered his ears at the sound of her loud yelling, "Yes, back to Japan, where you were born" He stared at her, speaking slowly, "That is okay with you...isn't it?" He was suddenly caught off guard when he felt her arms around him. "this is more than okay" she softly said, then pulled back to look at him, "I mean, yeah I'll miss my friends and France, but Osaka's always been my home" _

_"Same here" he hugged her back, "We leave in seven days"_

_(End of Flashback)_

What she told him was true...ever since she moved here, she would always dream of the soft, beautiful cherry blossoms from sakura trees and how she'd dance underneath them. And occasionally, she'd dream of a certain young boy.

she pulled out her omamori and opened the pouch. Holding it in her hands, she looked at the picture hidden inside, "...ahou" she whispered while smiling to herself

"Kazuha! It's time to go!"

She quickly lost her train of thought and ran downstairs. She was surprise to be greeted by her friends, "Juliette, Claire, Mimi? What are you doing here this late?" The three girls were teary-eyed as they hugged her. "We just came to say goodbye!" "We'll miss you Kazuha!" "Don't go!" Kazuha laughed, "Aww girls, don't cry or else you're gonna make me cry" and she wasn't lying either, she hated seeing others sad.

"Don't worry girls, I'll come back and visit you guys"

"You better!"

After saying their goodbyes, Kazuha got in the car and waved to them until they could no longer be seen.

"Au revoir!"

000

_"Ne Heiji?" a small girl in a yellow dress licked her ice cream, "what are we gonna do today? And why do you have a backpack?" She waited for the young, tanned boy to answer, "I've already told you" he replied, rolling his eyes, "We're going to see the fireworks" Her eyes instantly lit up, "Yay!" she smiled to herself, then something thought occurred to her, "but they start when its dark" he continued walking, "so?" She stopped and looked at the sky, "It's still morning!" _

_He sighed to himself, "ahou, we need to find a good spot before anyone else takes it" he said when he turned, facing her. "ooooh" she could see him trying hard not to smile, "don't call me an ahou, ahou!"_

_After walking for almost an hour, they finally settled down on a hill. "See? There's already people coming in" she looked down and realized that he was right, " people were carrying their covers to lay on the ground, and some brought chairs, but no one was near them on the hill. _

_They played little games before it finally got dark. "It's about to start!" he yelled happily as he ran to his backpack. She looked at him confusingly, "What's in your backpack?" he was searching through it until he finally let out a "here it is!" She noticed he was holding a cover, "it itches when you sit on the ground" he told her as he laid it on the ground. _

_He sat on top of it and turned to her with a grin on his face, "Come on! It's about to start!" she nodded and sat next to him._

_They stared in awe as the colorful fireworks began shooting into the dark sky, lighting everything up. She turned to him, "Heiji, thanks for today-_

"We're here!"

Kazuha jumped as she heard her dad's voice, "Geesh, don't scare me like that dad" she said while rubbing her eyes, "Sorry kiddo, just wanted to tell you we're finally here" he said sheepishly, "did you at least sleep well?" After letting out a small yawn, she nodded, "I dreamt of a time when I was little" _one of my favorite memories actually..._

She looked outside of the window, "So where are we living exactly?" Her dad just smiled...

The cab drove away as Kazuha stared at her house in disbelief, "No way!" she looked back at her dad who was smiling, "We're living in the EXACT same place ten years ago?" Her dad laughed and nodded, "No one wanted the place and I decided, why not? Like it?"

"Like it? Oh dad! It's perfect!" She placed her luggage down on the ground and ran to hug him, "Thank you Thank you Thank you!" He laughed out loud, "And you can still have your old room, that is, if you still want it"

She quickly let go of him, "Of course!" after quickly giving him a peck on the cheek, she ran inside and up the stairs into her old room. The room was medium size, the walls were blue and though it was empty, she loved it.

"Kazuha, can you come downstairs for a minute?"

She closed her window and yelled "coming!"

She ran downstairs and saw her dad with two other people, "Oh Kazuha! It's so nice to see you again!"

She smiled widely, "Mr. Hattori! Mrs. Hattori! I can't believe it! How are you?" They laughed at her, "Oh darling, you've certainly grown up into a beautiful young lady" Kazuha blushed at her words, "Arigato"

The four talked for awhile, until her father spoke up, "so how's Heiji?"

Her eyes widen as she waited for their answer, "He's doing fine, but you'll have to see for yourself tonight" She said with a smile. Kazuha stared at her dad, he noticed her look and smiled, "I forgot to tell you, we're spending dinner over at their house"

the adults soon went back to talking, while Kazuha stood there, listening. After a while, she grew bored. She ran to get her sweater, one she had just recently bought in France, and began putting it on, "Hey dad, I'm gonna go to the park"

"Okay, you still know where it is right?" she quickly nodded, "Okay, just don't be too long, we're gonna head out in a few, so just meet us there"

She said okay and went out the door.

Once reaching the park, she saw the swings and sat down on one of them.

Her mind was filled with questions, _I wonder how he'll look like? Probably even more handsome than before..._she let out a small laugh, though she never told anyone, when they were little, she had this crush on her best friend.

He's her first love.

She realized it was starting to get late and that she should probably head back. Walking the path she knew by heart.

000

"Well if it isn't Hattori Heiji"

She watched him swallow and then as if nothing, wipe his mouth and stand up. She gasped inwardly, he was tall, taller than she imagined. His eyes were piercing green as they looked into hers.

He cleared his throat, "Who are you?"

She knew she should have expected this, but she couldn't help but feel hurt.

"Guess"

Heiji stared at her, and instantly recognized her as the girl in the park. Her clothes were different, her hair was tied up in a long ponytail, she had cream colored skin and her eyes were a deep green. He found himself lost in them for some reason.

"You look japanese, but your clothes say you've been out of the country recently, how am I doing so far?" he said with a smirk

_Actually pretty well, _she thought, "I'm impressed, but not as well as I hoped" she said 'in a matter of fact' tone

His smirk quickly disappeared, where had he met her? In a case? No he would of remembered her face...He frowned, "What's your name?"

She sighed, "I can't believe you already forgot about me...ahou"

He stood there for a while, still not sure.

"You really don't remember me?" she asked softly.

He could tell he hurt her feelings, "Sorry, but no, not really..." He groaned in his mind because he expected her to start crying any second now. But to his surprise, she just glared at him, "Hattori Heiji" she crossed her arms, "boy do you have some nerve!"

"Hey it's not my fault! Where did I meet you? During a case? School?"

She looked up at him, confused, "A case? What do you mean?"

He raised an eyebrow, "You know, at a homicide case or anything that had to do with the police?"

She stared at him wide-eyed, "Now why would we have met there?"

Now it was his turn to look at her as if she was crazy, "You do know who I am right? Hattori Heiji, The Great Detective of the West?"

She was confused and was about to ask him what he was talking about, but their parents came in.

"Oh you two are already here!"

"So did you guys catch up?"

Kazuha and Heiji stared at each other.

000

Kay well, sorry I left off here, but I wanted the next part to be in the next chapter =D

As always, thank you all who reviewed!

salimaran08: I'm glad! Thanks for reading my fanfic =D haha you should really study for your exams, but I'm happy that you've enjoyed Falling For You! Arigato!

HeiKazu: haha yeah I decided I wanted them all to go to the same school =)

Ayumi Kudo: Well, Heiji's an ahou for forgetting who she is but we'll see what happens =)

: thank you soo much! You may be giving me too much credit though, I'm sure there's a lot of better Heiji/Kazuha writers out there, but thanks! Hope you enjoyed this chapter =D

000

So thank you all again, although I wished more people would review to tell me how it is so far. =)

Arigato!

Dreambee


	5. Chapter 5

Wow, thanks guys for all the reviews! They're awesome and I'm glad you guys like the story so far =)

So here's the next chapter!

000

( Eating dinner)

"Well you've certainly grown Heiji, how's it been?" Heiji stared at the man before him, he was confused, _Should I know him?_ he smiled sheepishly while running his hand through his hair, "Thanks"

"We're having dinner in a few, you kids continue catching up" they left the room and headed towards the dining room.

Heiji was still caught up in his own thoughts, thinking over the unfamiliar man's words. _He said I've grown so must of met him maybe a few years ago_

He tried remembering, but he could feel HER eyes on him. She just stared at him, her arms crossed. "What?" he asked annoyingly. She let out a long sigh, "Nothing...I'm gonna go out for some fresh air" She seemed sad

She stood up and after telling who he guessed was her father, that she was going out for a while, she went out the door.

Leaving him alone.

He let out a long aggravated groan. He didn't know why, but for some reason, the way she left, her face, it bothered him. Something inside him kept bugging him to go after her.  
>"Argh, Fine!" he grabbed his jacket and rushed out the door. It had surprisingly gotten darker outside, and colder. He looked to his left and right while rubbing his hands together, trying to keep them warm with friction.<p>

( about ten minutes later )

_Where IS she?_

He cursed under his breath, if he didn't find her in the next five minutes, he was gonna give up and go back. "Her fault if she freezes to death, see if I care" he muttered out loud. People around him gave him weird looks as he passed them.

After walking a little more longer, he decided that his body couldn't handle the cold any longer, "That's it, I'm leaving!" He started turning around, heading towards the other direction, but soon stopped.

There she was, right in front of him, sitting on a bench.

He slowly walked up to her, her eyes caught his. He could of sworn that she was surprised, but her eyes soon left his and went back to the passing cars in front of them. He slowly sat next to her, somehow, this felt familiar.

He didn't know what to do, so instead, he settled for a simple question. "You never did tell me your name" she gave him an annoyed look, to which he smiled.

"Why does it even matter to you now and why did you follow me?" she fired back with her own question. He shrugged his shoulders, "Curiosity I guess" she raised one eyebrow, "Curiosity killed the cat you know"

He grinned, "Still alive aren't I? I'll take my chances" She couldn't help but laugh out.

Truth was, he didn't know why he followed her, but now that he's here he saw no point in going back.

"Sooooo" he began fidgeting with the necklace around his neck, while she just stared at him. He looked at her, "are you ever gonna tell me your name?" he asked with a smirk, top which she smiled teasingly

"I don't know, maybe I'll just let you try to figure it out" she added a shrug

He stopped smirking, surprised.

She let out a laugh when she saw his expression, he soon followed.

When they finally quieted down, he noticed her shiver.

"Come on, let's head back" he stood up, and just as she was getting up, something caught her eye. He noticed her eyes going wide, "What's wrong?"

She pointed to his chest, "...what's that?" her voice was just above a whisper

He looked down and noticed it was his necklace, "Oh that?" he picked it up, "It's something I've always had, I think it's an-"

"Omamori" she finished for him

He laughed, "yeah how'd you know? It's suppose to bring me good luck, but I don't believe in those things"

She stood still, "Then why wear it?"

He smiled, "I promised someone long ago that I'd always wear it" he looked down at her, "why the sudden interest?"

She slowly pulled something out.

He stared at her hands as she unfolded them, revealing what was inside of them.

It was the omamori, only it wasn't his.

"How do you...?" it was the EXACT same replica, how could she have the same necklace as his?Then it hit him, like a shock of electricity. He saw a small girl and a younger him, playing outside, she had her hair in a ponytail and she was smiling...he blinked, the young girl's face soon shaped into the face of the person in front of him.

_It can't be..._he stared at her with wide eyes. She stared back, but instead of shock, she looked sad, but hopeful

"Ka...Kazuha?" he heard his voice crack.

Her eyes began to tear as she nodded, "Now do you remember?" her voice was just loud enough for him to hear.

She let out a small gasp as she felt his arms wrap around her tightly. "He-Heiji!" never before had he ever hugged her like this, but when she felt his warm embrace, she couldn't help but hug him back. And all too soon, he let go.

"Ahou, it's really you!" She laughed out loud at the sound of her old nick name coming from his mouth, "It's so good to see you Heiji"

He still looked shocked, "How long has it been! How was France? Are you staying here for good?" there were so many questions he wanted her to answer, but she lifted one hand to signal him to calm down.

"You sit, I'll talk" She said while laughing

And so the two began talking.

000

Sorry for leaving it here, I want to add more, but I have to log off soon, and plus I promised you guys I'd update every weekend, and I'm not gonna break that promise any time soon =) Anyways, their conversation will continue in the next chapter, So thanks to those who reviewed!

a kazheiji fan : I'm glad it's not boring lol thanks!

salimaran08 : good, I don't want you to fail your exams cuz of me ;) Yeah she is, but it'll be interesting how she acts, him too!

no.1 fan of dreambee : is your username really 'no. 1 fan of dreambee'? wow cool! lol aww thanks! That means a lot! =D I will!

detective conan is my life : really? thanks! You don't think it's a boring idea?

Heizuha : thanks, wow can't believe this is my third fic already!

a tantei's life: good thing he remembered =) thanks for your support! hahaha sorry then for keeping you waiting

Sakura : to bits? THANKS! =D

i love dc fanfic's : sorry for keeping you waiting, glad you like it =)

000

Once again, thanks! Until next weekend!

Dreambee


	6. Chapter 6

yeah sorry guys that the last chapter was really short, but I'll be sure to make this one really long to make up for it =) Oh and sorry that I broke my promise, but hopefully by making this chapter long, it'll make up for it!

Now back to the story!

000

"So you speak it fluently?"

Kazuha nodded her head. For the past hour, the two had been catching up on their lives over the years. Heiji was the one asking the questions, mainly while Kazuha answered. "Yup" he gave her a look, "Say something then"

She smiled at the simple task, "Bonjour, Je ma'appelle Kazuha. Je suis dix-sept ans. Ma meilleure ami c'est toi." He raised one eyebrow, "Sounds good enough to me" he joked, "so what did you say?"

"Oh just an introductory, saying hello, and that my name is Kazuha, that I'm seventeen years old and that my best friend is you" she smiled at his response. She shrugged her shoulders, "Well, I guess when we were little we were" she looked down at her hands. It stayed quiet before she finally spoke, her eyes looking straight at his. "Maybe it's different for you since it's been years and both of us have grown a lot but...I still think of you as my childhood best friend" she quickly added a smirk, "and an ahou"

She smiled because she made him laugh, "who are you calling an ahou, ahou?"

They both laughed at themselves. It was until after a while, when they had finally quieted down, that Heiji looked out to the racing cars passing them. "we've had some good times together" he quietly said while memories of them two flooded his mind.

"Well" she stood up, "I think we've been out here long enough don't you think?" He agreed and stood up as well, "Come on, our parents are probably eating already"

The two began walking in the direction towards Heiji's house. The wind was blowing hard, Kazuha shivered.

"Ne Heiji?"

He turned to look at her, "Earlier today, you said you thought we had met during a case" She scrunched hey eyebrows together, "What did you mean by that?" He looked up at the sky, trying to remember, "Oh yeah, since you just moved back, you don't know" she noticed how his voice changed into something else...excitement?

"Remember how I'd always use to say that I'd become a great detective?"

She did. He was always making her play a game he had made up himself, he'd call it Cops and Robbers. They would choose an item, nothing special, maybe like a toy or one dollar, and he'd make her act like she was a thief and had to hide it. He'd eventually find it, and would have to catch her..._which he ALWAYS did _she thought angrily

"Yeah. So?"

He grinned, "High school detective Heiji Hattori at your service" he winked to add in the effect of the title, but she just stared. His smile slowly faded. He then frowned as he watched her burst out into laughter.

"What are you laughing about?" he asked angrily. She continued to laugh, which soon began to annoy him. "AHOU!"

her arms clutched her stomach as she slowly quieted down, "I'm haha sorry haha" she had to wipe some tears off her eyes, "It's just, well, you can't be serious now can you?"

He crossed his arms, "It's true! I'm known as the Great Detective of the West! Cops always ask for my help, and I solve cases DAILY!"

She continued to laugh, "suuuure"

And for the rest of the walk he continued yelling at her, saying how he wasn't lying. Finally the house was in plain sight. As they entered the house, Heiji gave her a quick glare, "Just wait, you'll see!" she followed him into the living room where their parents were chatting among themselves.

"Oh you're back. There's some leftovers in the fridge if you want"

"No thanks" heiji quickly replied, "Dad, can you tell Kazuha that I'm a detective and work on cases" he sent Kazuha a look of annoyance, "this AHOU here doesn't believe me"

Kazuha stuck out her tongue at him. Mrs. Hattori clapped her hands together.

"Oh! you two act just like you did ten years ago!" He rolled his eyes at his mom the turned his attention to his dad.

"Not now Heiji"

He stuttered his next words, "B-But!"

Mr. Toyama suddenly stood up from the couch, "Well, thank you again for having us here for dinner" Mrs. Hattori swatted her hand, "Oh no, thank you for coming, it was wonderful seeing you two again" she gave Kazuha a hug, "I still can't believe how beautiful you've turned out to be, please, feel free to visit any time" Kazuha hugged her back, "arigato"

"It's good to have you back old friend" said the two men as they shook each others' hands.

The Toyamas said their thanks once more and began leaving. She was about to shut the door behind her when she heard his voice, "Ahou" which made her turn around, "Just wait, I'll prove to you that I'm actually a detective"

She smiled, "whatever, bye"

She got in the passenger seat of their car and stared out the window the rest of the drive. Staring up at the stars, Kazuha thought to herself how well the night had turned out to be.

She grabbed a hold of her omamori, _He remembers..._

000

( Next Morning )

It was early in the morning and Heiji was NOT happy. _It's all because of HER! _He turned to glare at the cheerful young girl walking beside him. Kazuha had come by his place early, banging on his door, yelling at him that they were gonna be late for school.

He was so startled by her that he ran out and tripped down the stairs...so far, his morning had been everything but good!

"Why did you wake me up again an hour before school?" his eyes had bags under them, his hair was a bit messy, and he was tired. But Kazuha, no she was dressed in his school's uniform and had a big smile on her face.

"I didn't want to be late for my first day of school" she said in a 'matter of fact' tone.

He rolled his eyes as she continued, "I can't believe we're in the same school!"

They finally reached the school, "Come on, let's get your schedule" He led her to the principal's office. When they left, they looked over her classes. "You're with me in Math" he smiled at her reaction, "That's great! And I love my other classes too!"

He looked at her schedule again. "Since when have you been interested in Art and Aikido?"

She shrugged her shoulders, "I fell in love with the art of France and I am a strong believer that every girl should know how to defend herself"

He nodded in agreement, "I guess" he looked at the time, "Well, we have thirty minutes to kill" he began walking out the door, "Come on, I'll show you around"

She followed him happily.

As he showed her to all her classes and her locker, she noticed that people were staring at them. She overheard two girls talking and pointing to her, asking each other who she was and what she was doing with Heiji. It made her feel uncomfortable.

"Ne, Heiji" he turned around, "Is it just me, or are people staring at us?"

He too had noticed the stares, and knew why. He was hardly ever seen with a girl, and plus Kazuha was new. He decided not to tell her and just shrugged his shoulders, "Just ignore them"

She nodded her head weakly.

After the tour, they headed towards their first class, Math. As they entered the class together, Kazuha felt every eye on her. But acting as if clueless to the stares, Heiji went to take his usual seat by the window, while Kazuha stood by the teacher, handing him her schedule.

"Oh new student huh?" he smiled at her, "Please tell us your name and where you moved from"

She smiled back and looked at the class, "Hi, my name is Toyama Kazuha and I just moved from France, but I was born here in Osaka"

Immediately the class began whispering to each other. Her teacher yelled at them to quiet down, then faced her, "France is a long way from here" he looked around the class and pointed to an empty seat, "You may sit there" She followed his finger and realized that she sat diagonally from Heiji.

She walked over, trying her best to ignore the stares, and took her seat. After several other classes, it was finally lunch time. She walked around after grabbing her food and looked for a place to sit. "Oi! Kazuha, over here!" She smiled, it was him. She followed his voice and saw him sitting in a corner with two other people. When she took her seat, Heiji smiled at his friends, "guys, this is Kazuha" She said hello as did they.

The girl to her right smiled at her, "It's nice to finally have another girl at our table! I'm Mouri Ran" She smiled at her and turned to face the guy that sat beside her, "Nice to meet you, I'm Kudo Shinichi" The girl named Ran spoke again, "So Heiji's never brought a girl to our table, how do you two know each other? Where are you from?" Kazuha raised an eyebrow and looked at Heiji, she was about to ask what she meant by that, but Shinichi cut her off. "She's just sat here and already you're bothering her with questions"

"Oh be quiet, you're just as curious as I am, and besides, I'm sure she wont mind" Kazuha couldn't help but laugh at the two quarrel, _They're obviously going out, _she thought, "It's alright, Heiji and I were childhood friends before I moved to France" Both of them stared at her with wide eyes, "You didn't tell us you had a childhood friend?" Heiji was about to answer them but was interrupted by Kazuha, "Oh don't worry, he forgot about me too"

"Hey at least I remembered! You can't really blame me, it's been like what? Ten years?"

"You're so mean Heiji, Shinichi and I are childhood friends too!" Ran stated, "Anyways, how's France? You're so lucky! I wish I could visit there" Kazuha smiled at her, "I'll go with you and show you around"

She grinned back, "That would be great!" Heiji stared at the two girls who were talking until a thought occurred to him, "Oi! Shinichi" he got everyone's attention, "Can you PLEASE tell this ahou that I'm a detective"

Shinichi stared at him, confused, "What, does she not believe you?" Heiji answered no, "Sorry Kazuha, though he's a little dense, it's true"

"So is Shinichi" Ran chimed in. Kazuha shook her head, "Oh come on, really?" Heiji grinned, "See? Told you so"

She gave him a glare, "Well...you were always smart, but I'll believe it when I see it" He smirked, "Fine, I'll take you on a case if you're up to it"

"Fine"

Lunch quickly ended and the four each said goodbye

The rest of the day went by and it was finally time for Aikido, her last class. She sighed as she changed into her outfit, all her classes had been the same, people staring at her, whispering among themselves. _It'll pass in a few days _she told herself.

She left the locker room and headed outside and followed the rest of the class, waiting for their instructor. She sat down, and stared at the sky. It was until then she realized that everyone was staring intently ahead of them. She stood up to see what was happening and let her eyes follow their direction and it wasn't long until something, or actually SOMEONE, caught her attention.

She let out a small gasp.

Not too far from them, the kendo team was practicing and two guys were going against each other, one of them had just won...it was Heiji. He stood tall and grinned at his victory. His tanned skin glowed with sweat and his figure did well to show off how fit he was.

She now understood why the guys were cheering and why the girls were gawking at him. She couldn't keep her eyes off of him.

If it wasn't for the instructor finally arriving, she probably would of stayed like that.

"Okay now class, we have a new student with us" Kazuha stood up, she was still red from what just happened a moment ago. "Toyama Kazuha is it?" She nodded, "Have you ever had Aikido classes before?"

"Yes"

The instructor looked her up and down, "Would you mind showing us a demonstration" she led her to the mat, "This is Haruhi, you're opponent" Kazuha looked her over, she was about the same size as her, brown short hair just past her ears and her eyes were a deep blue. "I've instructed Haruhi to not go easy on you so be prepared"

Kazuha nodded firmly. "On my mark" Each girl got in their fighting position, "GO!"

She watched as Haruhi made the first move. Kazuha's eyes locked onto her target, then instantly, she reached for her left hand, and with a twist, she was able to grab a hold of her arm and throw her down to the mat.

She could hear the chattering from her other classmates. But she ignored them, and averted her eyes back to Haruhi who had quickly gotten back up. She came after her but the results were always the same, Kazuha would somehow quickly decided on her next technique.

A crowd began forming around the two after about seven minutes. Everyone watched as Haruhi would be sent flying down to the mat. But she would always get back up.

The short haired girl was quickly losing energy. After getting back up, she stood in her fighting stance, breathing heavily. Her cold blue eyes stared straight into Kazuha's green ones. Kazuha's eyes glared back, sending her a message. _I may be new to this school, but I've had YEARS of training in aikido _

Everyone could see the smirk Kazuha had on her face, she was ready to end this match. She instantly moved towards her. Haruhi got ready to charge her attack, but when she moved, Kazuha was gone from her sight.

She felt her arm lock up and was instantly surprised to find herself pinned down to the mat.

Everyone gasped, "Enough!"

Kazuha let go of her arm. Haruhi was still on the ground, but when she looked up, she was met by Kazuha's hand and smile. Not sure what to do, she grabbed a hold of her hand and was pulled up. "Good job Haruhi" Kazuha said with a smile.

Haruhi wasn't happy about her performance, she was hoping she could beat the new kid, but Kazuha was no idiot, Haruhi would have never guess she was THAT good. She felt embarrassed, but when she saw Kazuha's genuine smile, she couldn't help but smile back.

"Thanks, but you were awesome" The two girls shook hands, "Arigato"

"Alright everyone, settle down!" The students were still talking to each other, 'who IS she?' 'Did you see those moves?' Kazuha instantly felt uneasy. "Toyama Kazuha" she stood up straight at her instructor, "How long have you practiced aikido?"

She had to think about it for a moment, "About nine years" The murmurs began again.

"Well" she walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder, "we are glad to have you, welcome to the team"

People around her clapped and some even cheered. She let out a small laugh, "Arigato"

Her instructor nodded, "Alright everyone, class is about to end, come on! Get going!" A few people went up to her, saying that she did great and cool. She thanked them before going over to her bag, getting her water bottle for a drink.

"Gotta say, that was pretty impressive" She looked up, "You were watching?"

Heiji scoffed, "Everyone was ahou, you were amazing" she was about to thank him again, but instead turned instantly red as a thought occurred to her.

He was still shirtless.

"So when did you become interested in aikido?_" _she forced herself to stare up at the sky and then look at the students who were already leaving. _How can he be this calm? Doesn't he know he's not wearing a shirt?_

"Well...it's a long story"

He laid his back against a tree next to him, signaling her to continue. She let out a long sigh, she thought about where to start. "It was a year after we had moved to France" her voice got serious and her expression changed. "There was a girl at my school, her name was Lundovi. She had long blonde hair, and blue eyes"

She smiled at the picture in her mind, "She was liked by everyone, always happy, and really good at playing tag" she laughed out, "She was my best friend"

"There was a series of kidnappings lately, I remember it was all over the news. We were all warned not to go out late, especially alone"

Heiji stayed quiet, "Anyways, after school was out, we went to the park. Played hide and go seek, and got on the swings. It was getting dark and she wanted to go home. I told her just a little longer...biggest regret of my life..."

"There was a black van that had been sitting out in the streets for a while now, but we didn't notice. Suddenly, a man came up to us...he told us if we wanted a puppy" Her eyes grew grim, "We knew to never talk to strangers, so we said no thanks. I remember grabbing her hand and pulling her away, but he walked right in front of us, he said he also had candy. We said no to him again."

Heiji had a feeling he knew where this was going.

"His eyes were hidden behind shady glasses, but you could tell he was mad" she stood still, "next thing we knew, he had a grab onto her arm. She let out a yell. She was able to pull free and that's when I yelled at her to run, but he was too fast. He knocked us both down, I remember feeling light headed, but I could see him taking us to that black van"

"Lundovi was somehow still awake, she was punching and kicking, but it was no use. He threw us into the back of the van, then everything went black."

"I remember waking up later on, it was still dark, but I could see Lundovi next to me. I yelled at her to wake up, and when she finally did, I could tell she was scared, we both were...We looked around and saw that we were in some room, with only a chair and a window. Then, we saw him."

She rolled her fists into balls, "He just stared at us. He said he'd be back and that he was just going to be gone for a moment. We yelled at him to let us go but he just smiled and locked the door behind him. Lundovi started crying, I tried calming her down, saying that it was going to be alright...but I was scared too. Maybe it had been a few minutes, maybe ten, but it felt like forever. We tried using the chair to reach the window, but we were still too short"

"It began getting cold I was shivering so much that I thought I was going to freeze to death before he ever came back. And then it hit me, somewhere, there was a breeze entering the room. I told her to start searching for wherever it was coming from. After about a few seconds, she said she found something. It was a vent, a way out! We began pulling at it until finally it opened. I told her to go first and she did, we crawled in, not knowing where it would take us"

"After crawling in the dark, we saw a little light coming from a metal panel. It had small cracks and you could see the moonlight and trees. We began kicking at it, until it flung open. We looked around and saw that we were at a field and that it was an old abandoned warehouse we were at"

She smiled sadly, "We were so happy, we were free!"

"But then...his voice rang out, and the next thing we knew he was charging at us. I yelled at her to run, and we ran as fast as we could. My face kept getting scraped by the tree branches, but I could see a few houses up ahead. A couple was just up ahead, I remember yelling at the top of my lungs for help. They finally noticed me and ran towards me, asking what was wrong"

"I was still trying to catch my breath, but I felt safe," she inhaled deeply, "that was when I noticed that Lundovi wasn't with me. I yelled out her name, startling the old couple. I old them that my friend and I were kidnapped, and we were running but he must of gotten her and that we had to go back now! But...but they wouldn't let me, I tried running back, but they held me down, saying to wait for the cops. But by the time they came, I could feel that something wasn't right"

"...I showed them where he took us, but it was empty and there was no sign of her..." She could hear her voice crack, "They searched all night, but she was gone...it wasn't till...till about two weeks later, they found her..." tears rolled down her cheeks, "it's all my fault, I asked her to stay late, if I had just listened to her and leave early..."

Heiji wrapped his arms around her, shushing her, "It wasn't your fault, how could you have known?"

She willed herself to stop crying, "Ever since that day...I vowed that I'd never let myself be weak" She wiped her eyes, "I entered aikido the next following week, took it pretty seriously and now...here we are, that's my story...sad I know, but, I owe her for making me who I am today" she tried her best to smile

Heiji smiled at her, he couldn't believe something as horrible as this would have ever happen to her, _and the fact that she told me, even though we haven't spoken in forever..._

"Come on, lets go home" and just like that her mood quickly changed from sad to cheerful. He found himself admiring her for that, _she puts on an act... making everyone believe she's this strong, cheerful girl...but I'm sure she's hurting inside most of the time..._

Kazuha had already began walking ahead, when she noticed that he was still where she left him, she called out in a teasing voice, "Ahou! Are you gonna stand there the rest of the day or what?"

He grinned back, "coming"

He quickly caught up, he listened to her, talking about how her day was. He stared with curiosity, her smile...it was truly beautiful, he couldn't help but smile himself, it was as if it was contagious.

In the pit of his stomach, he could feel something...something overpowering him, he couldn't understand it...but he knew one thing for sure

...he wouldn't let anyone ever hurt her

000

soooo? what'd you think? please please please review!

Thanks to those who did!

sherlock4869 DnDn i LOVE falling for you salimaran08 (oh by the way, I'd love to hear your ideas =D) KFArtyLover holmes freak a tantei's life

Thanks you guys! Hopefully this long chapter made up for the last one =)

Dreambee


	7. Chapter 7

I AM SOOO SORRY THAT IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME SINCE I'VE UPLOADED! Soccer, work and school are taking a huge toll on my spare time. It's been game after game and my team and I are always on the road and don't come back till 9 or 10 in the night and then that's when I do my homework, and I work all day on the weekends now. =(

Hope you guys can forgive me, and I'll try to upload as quickly as I can.

New chapter!

000

It had been about a week since Kazuha's arrival and heiji and her had formed a daily routine. She'd wake him up for school, then they'd walk together. After classes were over, they'd each go to their practices. Kazuh's was the first to finish and so she'd sit not too far from the Kendo team, watching Heiji practice.

Today was no different.

She sat on the grass, _he should be done by now..._a warm breeze passed by her face, she closed her eyes, enjoying the feeling of it, but it wasn't long till she heard an "Ahou" not too far from her. Her eyes shot open, "done already?"

He nodded his head, "yeah come on"

With a quick nod, she got up and followed him. It was finally Friday and she was eager to spend the weekend with him. "Ne Heiji? Wanna watch a movie tomorrow?" She asked with a smile.

But to her surprise, she got no response.

Her smile slowly faded away, _does he not...want to?_ She suddenly felt herself getting nervous,_ Maybe he has better plans than spending them with...me..._The thought saddened her as she watched his face closely. He looked as if deep in thought, no emotion, "Un-Unless you have some other plans...it's alright-

"Sure, if you treat" he teased with a half grin on his face. His change in mood confused her, but when she realized that he had said yes, she couldn't help but smile and roll her eyes, "Oh how nice, you're such a gentleman" she replied sarcastically.

They reached her house in a few minutes, and just before she reached the door, she turned back to wave at him goodbye, "Remember, movie tomorrow!"

"Yeah, yeah I got it, see ya"

She closed the door behind her, it was quiet and empty. "Dad must be still at work" she murmured to herself, "Oh well, guess I'll just make dinner for him"

Walking to the kitchen, she couldn't help but wonder about the way Heiji was acting...he seemed...different, "Almost as if he didn't want to go...but then why'd he say yes? Was it because he felt bad?" She stopped, "Nah, else he would of just said no".

She decided to not think about it, and decided to make Gong Bao Chicken with miso soup on the side, "Dad's favorite!"

000

( With Heiji )

After dropping off Kazuha, he continued towards his house, thinking about what had just happened...

_(flashback)_

_"Wanna watch a movie tomorrow..."_

_( End of Flashback )_

He knew he had froze, and it bothered him.

"Ughhhh" he groaned as he placed his arms on his head. "And when she said 'nevermind'!" he yelled out letting another aggravated groan escape his lips. A picture of her standing there looking sad appeared in his mind. He knew he had hurt her feelings...but he didn't mean to.

_It's just that..._a picture of a Chou smiling appeared in his mind, he let out a sigh, "They're all the same, but Kazuha..." he smiled when her angry face replaced Chou's, "She's just a child hood friend, that's it!"

He continued telling himself that, "there's nothing wrong with hanging out with her"

Upon arriving his house, he ran upstairs to his room. He dropped his bag onto the floor and picked up a mystery book to read.

_I mean...it's Kazuha we're talking about, right?_

000

( Next Day )

"Morning Dad!"

He looked up from his newspaper, "Morning, why are you up so early?"

Kazuha went over to the fridge and grabbed out some juice, "No reason, what time did you come home last night?"

"Around eleven thirty" he took a sip from his coffee, "Oh and thank you for dinner last night, it was good"

She smiled at him, "no problem, well I'm going over to Heiji's place later on, bye!" She put on her shoes

"Just be careful!"

"Will do!" before leaving she checked herself in the mirror, her hair, as always, was in a pony tail. When she closed the door behind her, her eyes squinted, adjusting to the bright sun. It was a beautiful day, the sun was out, it was warm, _and I get to spend my day with Heiji! _

she smiled at the thought. "But first, maybe I'll walk around before seeing him" she said to herself as she started heading out. It's been so long since she last lived in Osaka, and she was eager to see how much things had changed.

There had been more people than she remembered, and more buildings. She went to the mall after grabbing a quick bite from a small restaurant.

"...wow!" a huge grin landed on her face as she entered the three-story building. _Look at all the stores! _For anyone who didn't know, she was a tomboyish type of girl, but ever since moving to France, her friends had made it their business to turn her into a girly-girl.

After countless of times, they had manage to get her to wear cute outfits, heels and some makeup, but only on special occasions she told them. She started dressing in a less girly-ish way, but nonetheless still cute.

But she would always be a tomboy at heart.

So when she passed by a window from a clothing store, her eyes instantly glued themselves to a soft green mini dress that had a white lace around the waist.

"No Kazuha" she inhaled and exhaled deeply, "There's no reason to go buy a dress like that right now" she nodded to herself and continued walking.

...

"Here you go! Have a good day!" The lady handed her the bag, "Arigato"

She left the store, _But then again, I could use it in the future _she told herself as she smiled at the newly bought green dress.

Her phone suddenly went off, "Hello?"

"Hey 'Zuha, it's me" Her heart flipped at the sound of her nickname, he had started calling her that a few days ago, saying it was faster than just saying Kazuha, but no matter what reason, she liked it.

"Oh hey Heiji, what's up?" She pushed the door ahead of her, exiting the mall. "So about the movie..." she stopped_, he's going to cancel on me..._she waited for him to continue.

"...is seven alright with you?"

She let out a long sigh, not realizing that she had been holding her breath the whole time. "Yeah sounds great, where do we meet?"

"At my house, if that's okay with you"

"Sure, see you then!" they both hanged up the phone.

She looked at her watch and saw that it was 5:07

"Better get going" she told herself

000

It was now 6:51 and she was heading towards his house. After she had went home, she took a quick shower, put on some jeans and a white long sleeve shirt. Her hair was up with a white ribbon. They sky had gotten a little darker, but it was still warm.

She was about ten feet away from his door when she saw him in his front porch. When he spotted her, he stood up. "Ready to go?"

She nodded, then her eyes shifted to his hands, "What's that?" He looked down and grinned, "Helmets ahou" she stared at him weirdly, "Yeah, but why do you have two?" Her stomach turned as a thought occurred to her

"For my bike of course" he led her towards a motorcycle, "how else are we gonna get there" he replied with a look of annoyance

He got on the bike and placed the helmet on his head.

Kazuha stood still, she had never been on one and was actually a little scared. But when Heiji turned back at her and casually said, "Are you getting on or what?" she took a deep breath and climbed on the back of it, placing the helmet over her head. She didn't want Heiji making fun of her so she did her best to stay calm.

"Alright now, hold on tight" the bike roared with life, causing her to firmly wrap her arms around his waist. "Here we go!"

She let out a small shriek, but thankfully he couldn't hear her because of the wind and passing cars. Her eyes were closed shut, but when she finally got the guts to open them again, she found herself lost and amazed. She couldn't make out the passing cars or buildings. All she saw were beautiful colors racing past them, it was magical...

She lessened her grip and continued staring at the scenery around her. Finding herself lost in a daze...it felt nice.

And all too soon it ended.

Heiji had parked near the front of the cinema. The building was just two-stories high. She pulled off the helmet, "First time huh?" she looked up at the sound of his voice.

She shrugged her shoulders, "Was it that obvious?"

He let out a small laugh, "Well, you did look pale when you saw it, and then you held on really tight, kinda hurt" he rubbed his left side, adding more effect to his statement. She sent him a glare, "I'm just kidding" he laughed out, holding his hands up, "But it didn't last long, seemed like you got over it real quick" he said, impressed.

She let out a shaky laugh, "Sorry, and yeah, when I opened my eyes, I couldn't see anything but colors racing past us" her eyes glowed at the memory, "it was fun!"

His lips turned as he stared at her, she looked like a little kid opening presents on christmas day. "Well come on, I think the movie's about to start"

She nodded in agreement, but as they headed towards the cinema, a bone-chilling scream claimed their attention. Other people stopped too and turned their attention towards the direction of the yell. On instinct, Heiji ran towards the sound. He pushed through several people who had began forming a crowd.

When he broke through, he found a woman lying on the ground.

A deep cut to the throat.

"Someone call the police" he yelled out and bend down to examine the corpse clearly. She looked middle-aged, maybe 34. Her hair was loose and she had two grocery bags laying beside her.

"The police are on their way"

"Okay, thanks-wait what the-Kazuha?" he almost lost his balance at the sight of her. She gave him a weird look as she placed her phone away. "What's the matter with you?" He rolled his eyes and shook his head, "Forgot you were here for a moment"

She stuck out her tongue, about ready to start an argument until her eyes averted to the dead woman. Sensing her discomfort, he grabbed her arm, "Go home 'Zuha, you don't have to see this-"

she broke free from his grip and shook her head, "And you?"

"I'm gonna find out who did this" She wanted to tell him to stop playing around but he looked serious. He got back down on the ground and examined her once again until the police finally arrived.

"Oh good, you're already here Heiji" a man unknown to Kazuha appeared, she watched as he gave Heiji a pair of gloves. "So tell me what you've got so far"

Heiji put on the gloves and touched the woman's neck, "Middle-age woman, deep slit on the throat which punctured an artery causing her to bleed to death, time of death is approximately 20 min or less" he pointed towards the bags of food, "Just came back from the store that's around the corner"

She stared with amazement, _all that from just looking at her?_ Intrigued, she listened on to their conversation.

The inspector reached inside the woman's purse, "Well there's no identification or whatsoever in here, think it could of been random?"

Heiji shook his head, "I don't think it was, look at her left hand" he did and noticed a small key-chain, three fingers were wrapped around a silver key with the numbers 12 on it, "She's fixed in a position towards this building" Kazuha followed his words and stared at the tall apartment, "My guess is that she lived here, room 12"

the inspector grunted, "Don't let anyone leave got it?" he yelled at his men as they nodded. "Well let's go" He opened the door and let Heiji and himself in, he was about to close the door when he spotted Kazuha walking right behind him.

"Miss, I'm gonna have to ask you to stay outside, this is an investigation see and-"

"Kazuha?"

The inspector looked at heiji, "You know her?"

"Yeah she's my child hood friend" he stared at her once again, "Hey sorry but we'll have to reschedule-"

"Oh it's alright, but is it okay if I watch?" he was about to say no until she interrupted, "I mean, you DID say you were going to prove to me that you are in fact a detective" He sighed, to which she grinned, she knew she had won, "But ONLY if it's alright with you inspector..."

He nodded, "As long as she doesn't mess with our evidence then it's alright with me"

Heiji nodded, "Alright come on"

Kazuha smiled as she followed the two up the stairs. Once they spotted the room, the inspector instantly pulled out his gun. The door was wide open. "Everyone quiet" he whispered. Heiji pulled Kazuha behind him as they walked towards the room. They let the inspector go into the room first, the two then followed.

After searching the premises, he sighed and said "all clear" and put his gun away. "Well, was it some robbery or what? Nothing seems stolen"

"That we know of" corrected Heiji. Though true that the area was neat and clean, there was one problem, the door. "Inspector, we should call in her family and anyone else she was close to" The man's eyes grew wide, "Hold on a minute, you still think it's someone she knew?"

He nodded his head, "Someone obviously had to have known she lived here and that she would be out. Plus, the door's been broken open, but see if it were a robbery, the place would of been trashed up, but it's not". Heiji placed his hands in his pockets, "Someone came in, knowing what they wanted and probably took it. And when they left, they bumped into her and seeing how they were found out, killed her"

"I'll round them all up, mind if you come tomorrow to see them?" the inspector asked

Heiji smiled, "Not at all" they nodded at each other and went off with their goodbyes

Walking back down the stairs, Heiji turned to Kazuha, "Hey sorry that we missed our movie, any way I can make it up to you?" Kazuha smiled, "It's alright, it was fun watching you play detective" she teased and laughed when he was about to yell at her, declaring that he wasn't playing but she cut him off "Haha I'm just messin' with you" They walked out of the crowd of people still waiting, the victim's body had already been carried out.

He led her to his motorcycle and got on, holding out the extra helmet for her. She eagerly took it and placed it over her head and sat behind him.  
>The engine roared with life, "Can I come tomorrow with you?"<p>

He stopped and thought about it, "Sure, just don't get in the way" he teased, but she still got mad, "I wont!" He let out a laugh, "Come on, lets go home" and took off.

Once again Kazuha felt the same thrill as before. The feeling of excitement rushed through her, but at the same time she felt...peaceful. Not knowing, she rested her head on his back, letting out a sigh.

What she didn't notice though was how it affected him. Heiji tensed up...his hands gripping the accelerator tighter, his heart soon after began beating faster and he could feel his cheeks flush

_What's happening?_

000

So once again, I'm SOOO Sorry I haven't updated in a while. Hopefully I'll be able to update sooner since spring break is coming up =)

Thanks to those who reviewed!

Missjennifer54 : sorry, thanks for correcting me =) Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

KFArtyLover : thank you! I'm sure a lot of girls would LOVE to see him shirtless ;) hope you liked this chapter

salimaran08 : thanks, and yeah sorry for taking a while =/ I love your idea about Heiji and I'm gonna write more about him next chapter and how things will change, and basically have the drama start =D thanks again!

DnDn : awww thanks! Means a lot! =D

ToKToK : it's alright, sorry I haven't updated in a while =/ but thanks for reviewing!

a tantei's life : haha romance will be maybe in the next or in 2 more chapters =)

sherlock4869 : it will! definitely in the next chapter!

RedBloody-Yukata : thanks! will do! =)

000

So yeah, next chapter will mainly be about Heiji's past and maybe some romance ;) I'll try to update as soon as I can!

Arigato!

Dreambee


	8. Chapter 8

Straight to the story!

000

"Don't let him get away!" the inspector yelled as Kazuha watched Heiji dash towards the middle-age man. As he closed in on him, Heiji jumped and tackled him towards the ground. The inspector and several other police men followed behind.

After struggling, Heiji managed to get the man underneath him and hold his arms back, the inspector ushered his men to get him. "Another case solved, thanks Hattori" Heiji finally let go as the man was hand-cuffed, "Any time" he answered back with a grin.

"Let's go boys!"

He watched the man be pushed into the police car and drive off. "Heiji!" he whipped his head around and grinned at her, "That was amazing!"

She stared at him with awe, "Who would of known it was her uncle all along?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "So, still think I'm not a detective?" he asked in a matter-of-fact tone

She rolled her eyes, "Ahou" she replied as she crossed her arms.

It was Saturday morning and Heiji had woken up early to solve the case, remembering to bring Kazuha along.  
>It took them all morning to solve the case.<p>

"So now what do we want to do?" He shrugged his shoulders, "Well, I guess we can-" he stopped midway when he heard her gasp. "what?" he looked around them to see if anything was happening, but nothing.

"Your head, it's bleeding!" he placed his hand over his head and felt something warm. When he pulled it back, he saw that his fingertips were covered with small amounts of blood. "It's just a little blood ahou, no worries" he simply said

He found her hand wrapped in his, "You're hurt ahou" she started leading him towards the nearest bench. He said nothing, too focused on his hand that was enveloped in hers...

"Now sit"

He groaned, but did what she said. She searched through her small bag, "I know it's in here somewhere..." she muttered to herself.

"Here!" she pulled out a handkerchief and pulled out a bandage and sat down next to him.

"Look, I'm fine! There's no need for-

"Shush!" he was about to protest once more until he realized how close they were. He stood still as she dabbed the handkerchief on his cut, her face just inches apart. She was too absorbed in cleaning his cut that she didn't notice. His eyes frantically tried to look the other way, anywhere to distract himself, but it couldn't be helped, not with her this close. His eyes locked on to her face, mesmerized by what he saw.

Her skin was pale, and flawless. Her touch was soft and he found himself intoxicated by her smell. And her eyes..._What the hell am I thinking! _His mind yelled, screaming at him to move away! But his body...his body paid no attention.

He was drawn to her, lost in the moment.

He gulped.

Kazuha opened the bandage and carefully placed it over the cut. She looked at her work and smiled, "There! All better!" When she looked down, she instantly turned red, realizing how close she was to him. She quickly pulled away, "G-Gomen!" she stuttered out as she got up off the bench.

It took Heiji only a moment to wake up. "A-Ahou, I told you I was alright"

Her nerves quickly dispersed as she got angry, "I was just trying to help ahou!"

Heiji watched as she crossed her arms and looked away. He sighed as he fidgeted with the bandage, "Thank you though" Kazuha looked back at him and smiled, "You're welcome! Now come on, I'm starving!"

He laughed at her, "Oi, how about you lay off the food for a while" he replied with a teasing voice

"ahou!" she smacked his arm, but he just laughed

The two went home after they ate, each saying their goodbyes.

As Heiji entered his home, he ran up to his room to change. He then went outside where his father had a punching bag. He began warming up, throwing a few light punches, but then his thoughts soon drifted back to what happened with Kazuha. His conscious began screaming at him again.

_Why did you act like that? _three more punches.

_You're not thinking straight! _he punched the bag harder.

_Come on Heiji, you can't be having these thoughts! She's nothing but a childhood friend!_

_It'd be like Chou all over again! _His blood began to boil at the thought of her name, and he snapped. He went full out on the bag, throwing several punches until his knuckles were scraped with blood. He let out a yell and rested his head on the bag, taking deep breaths.

_But then why am I feeling like this..._

He closed his eyes, "Heiji! Come on in, it's getting cold outside" his mom called out. "In a bit!" he yelled back.

He was still confused, but then decided to let it go. "It's just cause I haven't seen her in years, that's all..." he whispered to himself.

Satisfied, he went back inside.

000

(Monday)

"Ahou! Wake up or we're gonna be late!" Loud bangs on the door woke him up. "Wake up! Wake up!" she yelled at the top of her lungs. Irritated, he yanked the door open, "Enough already! I'm awake!" He gave her a cold glare, before shutting the door.

Proud of herself, she grinned and waited by the front door.

A few minutes later, he came out running.

"Ahou hurry up! We're gonna be late!" he yelled, running past her.

She ran after him, "What are you talking about? This is your fault for waking up late!" he paid no attention to her, his mind was preoccupied on getting to school on time. The first thing that popped into his mind was his special shortcut.

He ran and jumped over the fence, feeding the dog a small treat and running past him.

_Wait, Kazuha!_

he had forgotten about Kazuha! She didn't know his "shortcut"

He was about to run back, when he saw her right behind him. "Ahou! Why'd you stop running? Come on!" she yelled out. Impressed, he gave her a smile and nodded. Going on ahead, he passed the small store. Every now and then he'd look back to see if she was following.

She was.

They ran as fast as they could and each got to class on time.

They looked at each other and exchanged small laughs.

Lunch soon came around the the two met up with Ran and Shinichi. "That was a close call this morning" Shinichi told the two

Kazuha gave Heiji a glare, "It's all his fault, he woke up late...again"

"Well at least I got us there on time ahou!"

Ran laughed at the two, "You guys are like an old married couple" she teased

Kazuha turned tomato red, "T-That's not true!" Ran laughed at her and the two quickly broke into another conversation. Shinichi was the only one who noticed how quiet Heiji had gotten. "Sorry girls, but there's something Heiji and I have to do, so if you'll excuse us" Shinichi got up and gave him a look

confused, he just got up and followed.

When they were far out of reach from them, Shinichi let out a sigh. "Alright, now what's wrong?"

Heiji looked the other way, "I don't know what you're talking about" he simply said

"Oh come on Hattori, I think I know you enough to know when something's bothering you" he crossed his arms, "It's about _her _isn't it?" Heiji cringed at the thought.

"You know...there's rumors going around, but what really happened Hattori?"

Inside his head, he began debating on whether he should just tell him_. _He sat down next to a tree.

"It was a long time ago..."

000

So Sorry guys! I know it's been awhile, I'm trying though. And sorry about this chapter, I was having writer's block. But Heiji's past will be in the next chapter FOR SURE!

I want to thank all who haven't given up on this story! It means a lot! =) And I know it's a short chapter, but next one will be long, promise!

000

salimaran08: Thanks, you're always giving me great reviews, making me not want to give up on this fanfic =) Sorry that I couldn't update soon enough, hope you liked this chapter

DnDn: Thank you, sorry that it took so long =/

KFArtyLover: I couldn't really come up with the details for the case so I skipped it to the end, sorry about that. But I'm glad you liked the last chapter =D

sherlock4869: haha yeah, Heiji's starting to get mixed feelings about her, she seems to be affecting him a lot lately ;)

Animevy116: Thanks! I'm glad you really liked it! Sorry about taking too long though, I'll do my best to hurry up =) And YES! I think they're so cute! lol


	9. Chapter 9

So I'm back! Now on to the story!

000

Heiji sat still, and took a deep breath. "I was 14 when it all happened..."

( 3 Years ago )

"Off to school now Heiji" She looked down at her son and planted a kiss on his cheek. "Ewww mom! I'll be fine, can I go now!" He squirmed out of her grasp, "Bye!" and with that he took off running.

She looked down at her son, "Kids, they grow up so fast" she laughed to herself and went back inside.

Heiji began running, he was already late for the first day back to school. "Excuse me! Come on, move out of the way!" he dove himself into the middle of other students who were crowding the hallways, he found it difficult to pass through due to his small height. He was 4 feet 11 inches, smaller than most of his classmates.

After somehow fighting his way through, he finally managed to get to his class where he took his seat in the second row.

The bell rang, signaling everyone to settle down.

"Okay class, welcome back to school. I hope everyone had a nice summer vacation" the children nodded, some already telling their peers what they did. It got loud again and the annoyed teacher had to yell once more.  
>"I said Settle down now!"<p>

Heiji sighed, giving another glance at the teacher. He was tall and had brown hair, not too old but by his formed wrinkles, you could tell he had experience. He crossed his arms over his chest, it was gonna be another boring year he thought. But just then, the door opened and there stood a petite girl with mid length light brown hair. Her eyes were a light shade of blue and she had a round face.

"Oh? And who might you be young lady?"

She turned, she didn't answer at first. She squirmed a bit. The teacher gave her a look to go on, she took a deep breath, "My, My name is Fuyu Chou" she shifted her eyes to the side, "I'm new"

_Clearly she's nervous..._Heiji thought.

"Well, we're happy you could join us" he held out his hand, "Please, take a seat"

Chou looked around for an opening chair, there were 3 heiji noted, one at the front of the room, and the next was two seats away from it. She started walking, taking the third seat that was open, the one right next to him.

When her eyes met his, he instantly forced himself to look the other way.

He didn't face her for the rest of the class period.

"Alright everyone, remember, homework is due tomorrow"

That was all he needed to hear before he'd rush out the door. As he began walking, he felt a hand grab onto his.

"hey Heiji! Why the rush?" He turned around, yanking his arm free, "What do you want Makoto?"

Makoto was one of Heiji's friends, they met in one of their kendo practices. "Nothing really, just wanted to ask what you thought about the new girl" Heiji gave him a look of annoyance and rolled his eyes, "She's new and I don't know, she seems pretty nice I guess"

They both began walking out of school. "Hey look, there she is" He turned to where Makoto was referring to and saw her standing with a bunch of girls. She seemed to be fitting in pretty easily.

"We'll see you tomorrow Chou!" her friends yelled, and she waved back. He smiled to himself, _well at least she doesn't seem so nervous anymore..._he didn't realized he was staring at her until their eyes met.

His cheeks flushed and he quickly looked away. Speeding up his pace until he was out of reach.

"Hey man, what was up with that?" Heiji jumped, he had forgotten that Makoto was with him. "I gotta go home, later"

_Great..._

( next day )

His eyes slowly opened due to the light coming in from his window. _Time for school_ he thought lazily. After changing and eating his breakfast, he said his goodbye to his mother and went out the door. He walked straight to class and took his seat without saying a word to anyone in the hallways.

He looked around and realized he was early, "hmph, that's a first" he slouched back and closed his eyes. He was acting out of character. But because of last night's dream, he could understand why. He dreamt of Chou and him staring at each other. She said something, but he couldn't hear anything. Then she had her eyes closed and her lips puckered a bit. and she was moving in closer...the next thing he knew he had woken up.

It was weird, just thinking about it made his heart beat a little faster.

A few seconds later, he heard the door open. He paid no attention to it, thinking that it was probably almost time for everyone to come in, but then he heard the footsteps getting closer to him. He stood still, and listened as the person took a seat next to him.

_It can't be her!_

Thoughts raced in his mind at the possibility that it was HER. He felt her eyes on him.

"Umm, excuse me" her voice was light, and had a soft bell-like ring to it. He opened his eyes and found himself staring at her. "May I ask what your name is?" the question was simple, yet he noticed how confident she sounded. He was pretty sure that she wouldn't have been able to ask him like this yesterday.

It was as if she had changed in just a day. What happened to the nervous, quiet girl that he had seen yesterday?

"Umm, H-Hattori Heiji" he mentally slapped himself for stuttering. She smiled and held out her hand, "Well it's nice to meet you". He smiled and shook it, "Same here"

That was the start of their journey...

( A few months later )

The two became quick friends, they'd hang out with their friends and go watch movies together. Both had changed, and after getting to know everyone, Chou wasn't the shy timid girl Heiji first thought her to be. She spoke to everyone and had this out-going personality. She had join cheer and quickly became head cheerleader. Needless to say, she was very popular, both with the girls and boys.

So Heiji, one day, was sitting down, watching her lead the cheer squad. They were suppose to go get ice cream afterwards. But Heiji also had something else he wanted to do...

_(Flashback)_

_"So are you gonna ask her?"  
><em>

_"Geesh Makoto, can you leave me alone!" Heiji shook him off his shoulder, "Oh come on! Tell me!"  
><em>

_Heiji sighed, "Alright alright, yeah, but what if she turns me down?" he frowned at the thought, "Oh come on man, she'll definitely say yes! Everyone's been waiting for you two to hook up"  
><em>

_Heiji blushed, "fine"  
><em>

_(End of Flashback)  
><em>

"Hey Heij, I'm finished!" He looked up and saw her out of her uniform. "Come on, let's go!" she grabbed his arm and led him to the ice cream shop.

He came back with two ice cream cones, one banana chocolate and the other vanilla. He handed her the vanilla and they both began licking away their dessert.

She looked at Heiji and cringed, he noticed, "W-What?"

She let out a laugh and said, "I just can't believe you like that flavor" He shrugged his shoulders, "It's a good flavor"

She shook her head, "If you say so"

After a few minutes, they had finished their treat. That was when Heiji began thinking of when to ask. He was so nervous, and didn't realize that Chou had been watching him the whole time. "Hey are you alright?" He looked up and saw the confused look in her eyes.

"O-Oh, yeah, I'm fine" They continued walking and finally he stopped.

She hadn't noticed so she was still walking ahead. He took a deep breath in and looked at her...

"Chou?" the black haired girl turned, her eyes blue. "Yes Hattori?"

he felt himself blush, "W-would you, umm would you..." She stared at him, "yes?" She stood there patiently, "Ummm" he swallowed, "Would you like to go out...with me?" He looked the other way, feeling a little embarrassed. It was until he heard her laughing that he turned around.

"I would love to!"

His face broke out into a smile, she ran up to him and wrapped her arms around him, he hugged her back.

000

News broke out of their relationship. Everyone was happy, well, except the boys who had a crush on her. But the two were inseparable, they did everything together and hung out everyday. A month later, Heiji held out a box to her.

"What's this?" she asked as she took hold of it.

He smiled, "Happy one-month anniversary"

She slowly opened it and instantly gasped, "Heiji! You didn't have to get me this!" she held out her hand, admiring the new charm bracelet she had on. He just smiled, "I wanted to, do you like it?"

"Like it? I love it! Arigato!" she gave him a peck on the cheek to which he quickly blushed.

"Good"

The two had continued to go out.

On their one year anniversary, Heiji took her out to dinner. He cleaned up really nice, and she wore a light blue dress that complimented her eyes. After eating they took a stroll through the city. They came upon a bridge. It had a great view of the city.

Heiji took her hands, "C-Chou..." she smiled and looked at him, "there's been something I've been meaning to tell you..."

She stared with her big blue eyes, "What is it?"

He ran his hand through his hair, "I...I..." he watched as she waited patiently.

"...I love you"

Her face broke out into a smile and she through herself onto him. "Me too"

Heiji hugged her back and the two shared yet another kiss.'

It was an unforgettable night.

Months later, on a bright, sunny day, Heiji had woken up. He stared at his alarm clock and groaned. It was too early for school. "Well, nothing to do about it now I guess" he said to himself as he got ready for school. When he arrived, he decided to walk around the building.

_Chou wont be here for another hour, should I go wait for her at her house? _he thought, the idea of meeting her now made him happy, but then he heard a noise. It was kind of a muffling noise, or something like that. Anyways, it was from the rooftop. _Weird... _he thought to himself

Curiosity getting the best of him, he decided to go investigate. While climbing the stairs, he took note of the noise getting louder. He noticed the door was left unlocked...he would later regret opening it.

"What the..."

He saw Chou kissing someone.

She was giggling when the guy whispered something in her ear. She continued laughing until she noticed him. She quickly gasped and threw the guy off her. "H-Heiji!" He stood still, almost calm. It was as if watching a movie in slow motion.

"H-Heiji, i-it's not what it looks like!" she kept saying

The guy on the floor rubbed his head, "Argh, what the heck Chou..." Heiji felt another stab to the heart, it was Makoto.

Chou ran up to him and began hugging him, "this isn't what it looks like, please, listen to me, Makoto...he forced me, he-"

Heiji shook her off him, "H-Heiji..."

He gave them both one last look before he turned and closed the door behind him. Once out of the school building, he began running. He didn't know where to, but he didn't care. Tears were streaming down his eyes and a cry would slip out sometimes.

He made it to the park and began pacing. Registering what had just happened. He replayed it over and over again, and every time it'd hurt more and more. He let out a yell and punched a tree. His knuckles were scraped with blood, but he didn't stop punching.

Finally, night had come and Heiji forced himself to go home.

His mom was at the door, "Hattori Heiji! Where have you been?" she crossed her arms, "I just got a call from the school saying you were absent all day" He didn't look at her, just passed by her and said with a small voice, "Gomen"

His mother stared at him, confused, "Is there something wrong?"

But he ignored her, and instead went up to his room to lay down. He wanted to forget. Everything.

"...I'll never let anyone hurt me again..." he whispered into the night.

000

Next day of school, their break up was the topic of the day. Everyone was talking about it. When Heiji arrived at school, he could feel all their stares on him.

He listened on as some random girls whispered to each other, "Hey did you hear? They broke up" the other girl gasped, "What? really? But they were SO cute together!" "Yeah I know, no one knows why though"

No one knew.

He'd never tell them, if Chou wanted to, he'd let her. He didn't care anymore.

He arrived to his class late, he glanced at his seat and there she was, staring at him. He continued walking, but instead went to the far back. "Move" the boy looked confused, everyone stared, waiting to see what would happen.

"B-But t-this is m-my seat" he quietly stuttered out

Heiji gave him a cold glare. "Right away!" the boy yelled and moved to another seat. Heiji sat down and laid back, crossing his arms and closing his eyes. After class, Chou got up and went over to him, "H-Heiji can we talk-

Her eyes went wide as he walked right past her and left the room. Everyone stared and Chou broke out into tears.

Years passed and things never were the same. Eventually Chou had to move to a different city, she left without saying goodbye to anyone.

And Heiji...well he changed.

He had grown impressively tall and handsome. He excelled in Kendo and though he never really tried in school, his grades were always the top of his class. Girls found him attractive, calling him mysterious and smart while guys thought him cool and strong.

He became even more popular when he became a famous high school detective. The girls loved him, and most would muster up the strength to confess their love to him. But he'd reject them all, leaving them depressed.

Everyone still wondered what had happened a few years ago that changed him and gave him his cold attitude. But he never told anyone. He swore to himself that he would never open up again and let any girl break his heart.

But then he was going to begin his junior year in a couple of months.

It'd be around the time he'd reunite with his child hood best friend...

Kazuha.

000

Soooo? did you guys like it? Hopefully you did, and I'm so sorry that I took so long. But thank you all for not giving up on me =)

No matter how long I take, I'm not giving up with this fanfic! I'll find the time to finish it =)

Anyways, thank you, and I seriously mean thank you, to all my readers and those of you who reviewed:

DnDn: hopefully this answered your question ^_^ thank you!

salimaran08: yeah I kind of like making my stories long =) And yeah, I was storming up different ideas for this chapter, I just lost track of time =) thank you though for always helping and for your concern!

KFArtyLove: thank you! I love getting ideas from my readers, it helps me see different ways I can go with a story

sherlock4869: yeah sorry about that cliff hanger, but hopefully this made up for it!

Animevy116: Why thank you! and don't mention it, anyone who reviews automatically gets listed, my way of thanking you guys! Aww thanks for the commitment! I promise to not give up on it, And don't worry if the your review is long, I like long reviews because I wanna see what everyone has to think about the new chapters =)

abbie: sorry for taking so long, thanks!

Kutau forever: same here, I think they were the first "couple" I saw when I began watching anime ^_^

soccer devil detective: hahaha sorry about the wait, will do my best!

000

So once again, thank you!

Dreambee


	10. Chapter 10

So it's finally updated!

Now please enjoy!

000

Heiji sighed as he finished his Kendo practice.

_(Flashback)_

_"...so that's what happened..." Shinichi slowly said. He watched Heiji's face, there was no emotion, but his eyes held sadness until they quickly changed cold. "So now you know" He simply said, exhaling deeply. _

_"That's why I haven't gone out with another girl ever since" he paused for a second, "I don't want to go through that ever again..."_

_Shinichi carefully chose his next words, "But then...what about Kazuha...? You're feeling something for her aren't you? That's why you're acting differently and remembering the past..." _

_He waited for him to answer, but the school bell rang, signaling everyone to get back to class. _

_"Heiji wait!"_

_(End of Flashback)_

He went on packing up his gear, _Kazuha's JUST a childhood friend, that's it! _

"...right?" he asked out loud...

"Heiji? You okay?" Her light voice startled him, his muscles tensed. "W-What!" she laughed knowing that she had managed to scare him. He took a few seconds to adjust himself, "What took you so long ahou?" he countered back, knowing that the nick name would bother her. And sure enough, she stomped her foot and crossed her arms, gritting her teeth, "Who are you calling ahou, ahou!"

He let out a laugh which surprised her, "Come on, let's go"

It was a quiet walk back home, Kazuha stayed a few paces behind him, staring at him. _Is it me, or is he acting a little...different? _She pondered, but chose to think about it later on when she got home. She smiled and decided to enjoy the silence...but her patience soon broke. _He HAS been dazing off into space these past few days...I don't know, maybe something's wrong? _She pulled on her shirt, unsure whether to ask him or not.

She let out a soft groan, and decided to ask about it later. But when she saw him staring at her with one eyebrow raised, she decided it was now or never.

"Ne Heiji?" he continued looking at her, "Yeah?"

She tilted her head a little bit, "Is something...bothering you?"

It was an innocent question, but still startled him. "Umm no? Why?" With a slightly touch of pink on her cheeks, she shrugged and laughed nervously, "Well, see...you've been quiet recently" she gave him a look, "and we both know that's not normal for you" she teased, making him scowl. She laughed, but then got sincere.

"No really, I'm serious Heiji" she stared straight at him, "it's like lately you've been preoccupied with something, and it's bothering you" she sighed, "you're always staring off into space, and I know it's not something good because every time you do, you look almost...well...sad..."

Now it was her turn to stay quiet. She stared at him, waiting for an explanation. But Heiji was too surprised to answer. He didn't know he had let his 'problem' affect him enough to have her notice.

Feeling uncomfortable, she decided to break the silence. "Is it a case?" Her voice brought him back to reality, "Ahou, it's nothing, you're probably just imagining things" he answered as he continued walking

She looked at him, and walked right up next to him. "you're lying Heiji, why wont you just admit it"

"It's nothing" he said flatly

_Liar! _She thought, but she knew he wasn't about to tell her any time soon, so she decided to give him some space,_ maybe this 'problem' will work itself out _she told herself, hoping.

(Few days later)

"Kazuha! Over here!" Her head went up and soon found Ran at their usual lunch table. She smiled and went over to her, taking a seat right in front of her. "Hey Ran" she said cheerfully while looking around for _him._"Heiji will be here in a little bit, apparently Shinichi and he need to go over a few details on their new case"

"Oh, okay" her voice with a hint of pang.

She was startled when Ran began laughing, "W-What?" But Ran continued laughing for a few more seconds before she placed her hand over her mouth, forcing herself to stop. "I just think it's cute that you're a little sad that Heiji's not here"

Kazuha turned tomato red, "I-I am not!"

Ran rolled her eyes, "oh you don't have to lie, it's obvious that you like Heiji" she said in a matter of fact tone.

"that's not true! He's just my...my best friend since we were kids"

Ran smiled at her, "just like Shinichi and me, and see how _we _ended up?"

Kazuha looked at her, yeah they were also childhood friends and soon ended up in a relationship, but...

"You guys are lucky, but it doesn't always happen, I bet he'd freak out and then say that he just wants us to be friends, but then that never happens and I...I..." she imagined the scene, "I just can't risk it, not if it means there's a chance I'll lose him"

Both girls stayed quiet, "I know the feeling...that's how I felt before" Ran softly said, remembering

Kazuha looked up at her, "wait, what?" the thought of Ran having to go through this as well seemed unreal, _Shinichi and she just seem...so perfect. How could they ever have had any problems telling each other their feelings? _she crosses her arms and slouches back in her chair.

"...then how _did _you guys end up together?"

Ran instantly lit up, "With him being a known detective, he had more cases, not always so near by. I'd always wait for him to come home, but it was always hard" Kazuha waited patiently, "I was considering if whether I should tell him my feelings or not, but decided not to because it may ruin our relationship." Kazuha nodded in understanding, "Every time he'd come home, we'd spend the whole time together. I always relished the moment because another case would soon come up and he'd be gone for months"

She had a little smile on her face, "I guess looking back now, his excitement seemed to fade away because he knew he'd be gone and leave me alone. But I told him I'd always wait for him, always"

"Then one day, he told me he had a case and that he'd be gone for a year..a year!" Kazuha's eyes went wide at the outburst from her friend. But Ran just kept shaking her head, "Who knows what kind of case it was!" Kazuha stifled a laugh at the irritated look Ran had.

"He obviously could see how sad I was, and when we were at the train station, we said our goodbyes and I guess I was too depressed to realize he was staring at me for a while, like he was waiting for something, I don't know, but when they called his train once again, he turned to leave"

"I didn't even stay to watch it go, I just left the train station" she stared into space, remembering, "I didn't get too far before hearing my name being shouted. I turned around and..." a small smile tugged at her lips, "...and there he was, running at me! I remember being startled and him panting for air, I asked him what he was doing and that he missed his train, but then...

_(Flashback, Ran's POV)  
><em>

_"Shinichi, w-what are you doing? Did you just miss your train!" He shook his head, and stared right at me.  
><em>

_His expression was different, as if he was scared, but why? _

_And as if reading my thoughts, he softly said "you didn't say you'd wait for me..."  
><em>

_...what? I thought back and realized I didn't, but did it matter? He should know I'll always be waiting for him...right?  
><em>

_But then I felt his arms wrap around me, pulling me into him.  
><em>

_"Sh-shinichi!"  
><em>

_"I'm not loosing you...am I?" his voice quivered, making my heart jump  
><em>

_Realizing he was waiting for an answer, I hugged him back, "...never" and that's when I felt his lips on mine...  
><em>

_(End of Flashback)  
><em>

Ran smiled at the memories, "After that day, we began dating" she paused, "and now look where we are"

Kazuha watched the happy expression Ran had on, "That's the most sweetest story I've ever heard!"

Ran laughed, "I guess, but listen" she smiled, "don't ever let fear get the best of you"

Kazuha sat still, and after a moment she sighed "...you're right" Ran grinned, liking the idea of being right "but now doesn't feel like the right time to tell him"

Her victory soon vanished though. She rolled her eyes, and was about to question her when she noticed the boys coming over. "Oh, hey guys" she quickly said adding a smile

"Hey, sorry we took long"

Kazuha watched Heiji take his regular seat that was next to hers. "It's fine" everyone else began conversing with each other like always, except Kazuha. She didn't feel like talking much, her mind was too preoccupied with something else.

_Something's still bothering him, I know it..._

she began playing with her food

_Why wont he just tell me? _

she heard the bell go off. Saying their goodbyes, she went off to class

_Should I talk to him again? No...he'd probably get mad at me for bringing it up again._

She slouched back in her seat, ignoring the teacher. She was too worried to be thinking about class.

_I feel like he's distancing himself from me..._

She left after class for her aikido practice. "Miss Toyama, are you alright?" She looked up, "Oh, umm yeah" she stuttered out

Her teacher gave her one long look before nodding, "Then please pay attention, now class-"

She tried listening, but found herself tuning everything out. Instead she turned her head towards _his _direction. He was so fixed on the guy in front of him, not once breaking eye contact.

When practice was over, she quickly packed her things and walked over to him. But apparently his practice wouldn't end till an hour later. So she waited patiently for him. Once it ended, she went up to him.

"Hey Heiji, how was practice?"

He was knelt down on the grass, putting everything away into his bag. "Good, yours?"

"Same"

As he got up, Kazuha began walking towards the direction of their houses. Maybe she could ask him again? Or should she?  
>She was too preoccupied in her thoughts that she didn't realize that he wasn't walking beside her. Until his voice brought her back to reality.<p>

"Err, umm Kazuha?"

She stopped and turned, "Yeah?" she asked, confused as to why he wasn't walking with her.

Heiji nervously ran his fingers through his black hair. "I was gonna go hang out with some friends after class" he nervously said. She stared at him, confused and it took her a moment before she understood what he was telling her.

When she didn't answer, Heiji added on, "Is it alright if you walk home by yourself today?"

She stared back blankly, "Oh...umm yeah! Sure" she did her best to put on a smile, "see you later then, bye!" she quickly said and added a small wave before turning her back on him and walking away. Once out of his sight, she sighed and let her shoulders drop. "...he could of at least told me before making me wait an hour for him...ahou"

Once her house was in sight, she decided to not let it bother her and that she doesn't always have to be with him! I mean, she's not a lost puppy you know! _Sigh...it still bothers me though...__  
><em>

"Well...it was just today, I'll see him tomorrow" she muttered to herself, and a smile slowly appeared on her face.

000

(Days Later)

"...(sigh)..."

She let her shoulders drop down after picking up her aikido equipment. A knot soon presented itself at the bottom pit of her stomach, she knew by now she shouldn't even bother, but she couldn't help it. Hesitating, she slowly turned her head towards _his _direction.

her heart twisted

_never set you hopes high, _she sneered at the voice in her head and turned her attention back to him.

Heiji was already walking the other way with some guys. "looks like it's just me alone...again" she let out what would probably be her hundredth sigh, and forced her legs to move and do her best to not look back.

Lately it had just been her walking home alone, a daily ritual now. After the first time he didn't walk with her home, she saw nothing wrong with it, _I mean, he HAS a life, he doesn't always have to be with me_ she thought. But then he'd have another excuse the next day and the next...and the next. Until finally the excuses just stopped and he wouldn't even bother say goodbye or so much of a wave.

And that wasn't even the worst part! Things had become awkward at lunch at their table. He'd still sit with them, okay, maybe she was just being over paranoid or something, but she would swear he'd move his chair as far away from her as he could! And when she'd try to start a conversation with him, he would just reply with one word, even when she'd try to make him mad at her to start an argument!

Now they barely make small-talk, and she can't help feel...hurt. Did she do something wrong?  
>She reached home and went straight to her bed. Heiji was becoming so distant, she hardly recognized him anymore.<p>

a shaky laugh escaped her mouth, "...talk about childhood friends"

000

Okay, this is becoming some sort of a routine, but I'm truly, utterly sorry for updating so late! I had to re-write this chapter like 4 times because I had no idea where to go with it, but then I went off on a family vacation trip and now I'm back! I'll do my best the next chapter!

Anyways, thank you ALL who reviewed and are still with this fanfic!

Please review and tell me what you think! It will greatly help me for the next chapter!

Love you guys!

Dreambee =)


	11. Chapter 11

Determined to make this a great fanfic!

Enjoy!

000

"You know what? That's it! I'm done!" Kazuha growled out loud to herself, "If he wants to avoid me then fine! Two can play this game" she stomped off. Not once looking back to see _him _head off again with his friends. "I mean, why bother? It's been THREE WEEKS since he last walked back home with me, or so even actually _talk _to me, so why should I even care!" she yelled out to no one in particular.

She began slowing down, _who am I kidding...I'll always care about him _warm tears threatened to fall. She bit her lip, willing them to not. "Jeez, what am I? His little follower?" she took a moment to think about it..._weeelll..._"No!" she yelled out, scowling at herself, "That part of me was gone years ago, the new me came back with a fresh start" she said proudly, feeling the excitement rush through her body, which made her run the rest of the way home.

She rushed to her room and went straight to her closet. As she opened it, she pushed aside the clothes she bought when she first came to Japan. She had decided that her clothes from France would attract too much attention, so she never wore them. _But now it's different! _She pulled out a box that was titled **Old Clothes **and opened it. "Oh how I've missed you!" she said, hugging the old, familiar fabric and began picking out an outfit.

Once satisfied, she quickly ran to get her phone, waiting.

Tomorrow was Saturday, and before she would just hang out with Heiji, but ever since his little "phase" she had just stayed home, reading magazines and maybe take a walk, but that was then. There was a new movie that just came out and she REALLY wanted to see it.

"Hello?"

She lit up at Ran's voice, "Hey Ran, it's me Kazuha"

"Oh hey, how are you doing?"

"I'm good, but I was wondering if you wanted to go watch a movie with me tomorrow?" _please say yes!_

She bit her lip, anxiously waiting.

"Sure! I'd love to!" she replied happily

"That's great! We can meet up at the theatre around 2, sound good?"

"Sure! It'll be a girl's night out, see you then, bye"

"Bye!"

Once she hung up, she did a little jump in the air, "Yes!" after realizing what she had just done, she burst out laughing and went to lay down on her bed. Once her laughter ceased, she thought about Ran's words; _ It'll be a girl's night out_...

That's right, a girl's night out...it'd been a long time since she last had one and now seemed like the perfect time.

"I'm beginning to like the new me" she softly said before drifting off to sleep.

000

(Next day)

"Okay Dad, I'm leaving!"

Mr. Toyama looked up from his newspaper, one eyebrow raised when he noticed her outfit. "Now there's something I haven't seen in a while" he let out a small chuckle, "Are you hanging out with Heiji?"

Her smile vanished, _Jeez, even he thinks I'm always with him_, "Nooooo" she replied flatly, but then with a lighter tone, "I'm going to watch a movie with Ran"

He put down his paper and smiled, "Oh that's nice, but may I ask what's with the clothes?"

She smirked, "They're my old clothes, and well, I felt like wearing them again, what do you think?" she did a small twirl. She wore black leggings and a mini skirt to match and small boots, a petite plain white sweater with black stripes. Her hair was also down, just as she used to wear it back in France. She was never one for make-up, but eye-liner was always an exception.

Her dad smiled, "you know, I think this suits you more" he went back to his paper, "have fun"

She hugged him goodbye and went out the door. Once walking to a busier street, she could feel everyone's eyes on her. She shuddered, but brushed it off and walked on. Reaching the theatre, she saw Ran standing patiently in the middle.

"Ran!" she called out, waving

She laughed at her expression, "K-Kazuha, you look...amazing!" Kazuha let out a sigh that she didn't even know she was holding. A part of her still felt unsure of how everyone else would take it, but hearing this from Ran made her feel better, more confident.

"Thanks, come on, it's about to start!"

The two went in and grabbed popcorn before sitting down. The movie was a typical romance. Boy and Girl accidentally run into each other, Boy can't stop thinking about her and neither can Girl. But there's always someone who doesn't want them to end up together and makes them hate each other, but then both realize their mistakes and Boy runs after her before she leaves and proposes to her. Girl says yes and they live happily ever after.

Cheesy, yes, but Kazuha was always a hopeless romantic and these things always made her feel happy and made her wonder what her true love story will be like.

The two exited the theatre and Ran suggested that they go out for a bite, to which Kazuha happily agree.

Once seated, Kazuha immediately began talking, "I loved the ending didn't you?"

Ran grinned, "Absolutely! And the guy was pretty cute right?"

Kazuha agreed and they ended up laughing.

When their meal arrived, Ran asked, "So you look different, did anything happen?"

Kazuha took a sip of her soup, she was ready for this question, "Ran, have you noticed the way Heiji's been acting around me lately?"

Ran shifted in her seat uncomfortably, "Oh come on Ran, he doesn't walk with me back home after practice, he sits as far away from me at lunch and barely even talks to me anymore" She let out an annoyed sigh, "Look, I _know _he's avoiding me, what I don't get is why, but hey, if he doesn't want to talk to me then fine"

Ran gave her a look of sympathy, "I asked Shinichi about it, but he wont tell me anything, says he's not even sure himself"

Kazuha smiled at her, it was nice knowing she was looking out for her, "it's alright" she took another sip of her soup, "I decided that I'm no longer his little follower, and that I wanted to start all over again, from the time I got off the plane"

"and well," she inhaled deeply, "I feel good"

"Well I'm happy for you, besides, you look great" Ran said with a sincere smile

Their waiter came back to their table with a soft drink, he placed it next to Kazuha's plate, "Umm excuse me, I didn't order this" The waiter smiled at her, "This is for you from the young man over there" She followed his gaze and there sat a tall young man holding up his glass at her, grinning.

"Looks like I'm not the only one who thinks so too" Ran giggled

Kazuha gave him a small smile before quickly turning back to Ran, cheeks flushed. They stared at each other until they both burst out laughing.

They waved each other goodbye a few hours later. "Man, haven't laughed that much in a while" she thought out loud. _Tonight was pretty good_, the cool breeze brushed past her hair, _see? I don't need Heiji to have fun_

She walked into her house, feeling better than she had the past few weeks

Yup, she didn't need him...

000

(Monday)

Though after wearing her European clothes for two days, she had to go back to her regular school uniform. She gave herself one last look, "Well..." she said to her reflection in the mirror, "I guess it can't be helped" But she did leave her hair untied.

Running her fingers through her hair, she wondered how she could have ever thought to just leave it up for so long.

Satisfied with how she looked, she went down stairs and grabbed a piece of toast before heading out the door. She looked at the watch, "Still have 20 minutes to spare" Deciding not to get there early, she slowed her pace.

There were a variety of buildings around her. She thought about the last time she was here in Osaka. "It's still the same, yet very different..." she murmured to herself. And for the remaining 20 min, she walked around, sometimes seeing familiar faces and eventually greeting them.

It wasn't until she heard the school bells going off that she decided to enter the school building and into her class. Taking her normal seat, she noticed Heiji had still not made it to class..._Ugh, don't think about him Kazuha! _

She rolled her hands into fists, _who needs him right? Certainly not m- _"Morning Kazuha!" said a girl, bringing Kazuha out of her thoughts. She turned to whomever it was, noticing she had mid length hair and hazel eyes. Kazuha looked at her quizzically, did she know her?

"We haven't officially me, but I'm Izumi" the girl answered, as if knowing what she was thinking

"Nice to meet you, I'm Kazuha" she mentally slapped herself, _Duh! She already knows! _"B-But you already know...umm can I ask how?" The girl, err Izumi smiled at her, "When you first came here, you introduced yourself, I just have a good memory, and besides, I sit right next to you" she replied, her voice sounding a little hurt

She took her seat beside her,"Oh I'm sorry, I know I've been here for about a month and a half, but I still don't know everyone" she could feel the heat rush to her cheeks.

Izumi, however, quickly recovered and lit up, "It's alright! So anyways, I saw you, or well I think it was you, on Saturday with Ran. Your outfit was super cute! Though I've never seen anything like it, and your hair is soo pretty! And long!"

_Wow she talks a lot, _Kazuha did her best to smile, "Thanks"

"So you said you came from France, do people there dress like that?"

_Well this is nice, _Kazuha thought, and the two quickly became friends, talking the whole time right up before their teacher entered the room

"Well students-" he began, but before he could finish his sentence, someone quickly rushed past him.

Kazuha's body stiffened, it was Heiji, and he took his regular seat, diagonally behind her.

"So nice of you to join us Hattori" the teacher spat out, sarcastically.

She could picture him smiling at him, but shook the image away. She was NOT going to think about him, or look at him or even talk to him! So the rest of the hour went by pretty slow, but when the bell rang, she walked with Izumi, talking the whole way with not so much of a glance towards him.

When it came down to lunch, she sat with Izumi and her friends before apologizing to Ran for not sitting with her.

"Kazuha it's fine, I have Shinichi for that, but just make sure we still hang out" she joked, making Kazuha laugh. "Thanks Ran" Ran shrugged, "Don't worry about it" She waved her goodbye before sitting with Izumi and the other girls.

Time passed and it was soon the end of her Aikido practice. Izumi was waiting for her, they had found out that they lived not too far from each other. And so the two headed home together. Halfway there, they went their separate ways, and for the remaining walk, Kazuha thought about how her day turned out to be. She had made quite a few friends who were nice and funny, and even made plans with them this Friday!

So, her day turned out pretty good, maybe even better than she imagined.

She smiled to herself, deciding to go out shopping after she changed from her school uniform.

Little did she know that someone was watching her.

000

Sooooo? What did you guys think? And I tried updating as quickly as I could, seeing as how school is about to start for me =)

Please please PLEASE Review! It helps a lot to know what's on your mind after you've just read this!

Thanks to:

**marimet: **it's worthless? thanks for liking the story!

**salimaran08: **thanks! hopefully I didn't make you wait too long =)

**Animevy116: **That quote was beautiful! It does sound like them, and thank you for your long review! I love long ones the most, so if you wanna give me a 10 paged review, that'd be great! ;) hahaha but I'm serious, I like that you gave me a long review =) hope you liked this chapter!

**sherlock4869: **Yeah I'm definitely NOT making Kazuha suffer in this story, she's tough, and I want to emphasize that in this fic. Thank you again!

**KFArtyLover: **I wanted a little version of how Ran and Shinichi got together so I decided to put it there, and Yeah I can definitely see her doing that, but she's gonna handle this with some dignity, and we'll see how Heiji reacts! ;) Thanks for the review!

Thanks again everyone! Especially to those who've stuck with me the whole time =D Love you guys!


	12. Chapter 12

Wow! Thank you guys for the awesome reviews! They mean SO much to me =D

Now on with the story!

000

_Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!_

"hmm"

_BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!_

One hand quickly reached out, finding the annoying alarm clock. _Beep! Beep! Beep! Bee-! _A small smile tugged at his lips as he successfully turned it off.

_Just a few more minutes...  
><em>He thought, letting his eyelids close once again.

"Hattori Heiji, if you don't wake up this instant, you're going to be late for school!"

His eyes shot wide open, _Kazuha? _He turned over, "Now get going young man!" _Ohh..._his shock turned into disappointment as he laid his head back down. It was only his mother. A sigh escaped his lips as Kazuha's face popped into his mind...it had been a while since he last spoke to her...He let out a groan as he mentally slappled himself. he shouldn't be thinking about her...he wasn't going to! Quickly changing his thoughts, he decided instead to focus on getting ready.

He arrived at school a minute before the bells rang, _Is there really anything I can't do? _he smirked to himself. "Please take your seat Hattori" his teacher instructed angrily, making Heiji roll his eyes. "Sheesh, can't he just lighten up for one day?" he grumbled to himself, but made his way to his desk.

It was something that had been some sort of a routine, ever since about three weeks ago, but there was no avoiding it. He had to pass _her _desk to reach his. And every time he did, he'd always look the other way. Was it pathetic? Yes, but he didn't know what else to do. At first he could feel her eyes on him, and if he'd somehow glanced her way, their eyes would lock for a brief moment before he force himself to look elsewhere.

But there were a few rare occasions when he wanted to "accidentally" look her way, like today.

It was only for a few seconds before he needed to sit down at his seat. His muscles tensed as he tilted his head her way, and carefully, his eyes searched for hers. Imagine his astonishment when he saw her. She wasn't even staring at him, nor even facing his direction! Instead Kazuha was having a conversation with some girl he only knew as Izumi. And, _wait, is she wearing her hair down? She Never did before-_

The teacher's words brought him back to reality, "Hattori, Take. A. Seat." Everyone turned to stare at him, everyone except Kazuha, she seemed oblivious to the whole situation. He mentally groaned as he took his seat. All hour he stared at _her_, hoping that if he observed her long enough, some answer as to why she's acting differently would magically appear in thin air. Why didn't she look at him? Why does she seem different?

His fists rolled into balls, these questions were eating at him! He hated not knowing!

The bells rang.

He watched her quickly leave the room, not looking back once. His other classes went by slowly, but once it had reached lunch time, he realized this was his chance to see her again, but making sure not to sit too close to her. With a small smile, he went over to his usual table. It slowly disappeared as he noticed only Shinichi and Ran were there.

At his confused look, Ran simply told him that Kazuha was going to sit with Izumi and her friends. He turned to see and sure enough she was there with Izumi, laughing. "Oh...okay" he replied, but still making sure he could still see her from the corner of his eye.

Once lunch was over, everyone went back to their classes.

Two hours passed and it was finally time for his Kendo practice, not to mention Kazuha's Aikido practice. He didn't participate in today's practice, saying that he didn't feel too good. He was allowed to just sit down. Once taking his place, he looked over to the other side of the field. Kazuha was getting ready for a little 'match' the girl's were about to have.

He watched in awe.

The whistle had just been blown and Kazuha had already pinned the other girl down. She smiled at her small victory before quickly helping her opponent up. He remembered first seeing her practice and how good she was, but he hadn't realized that she had become the best one on the team, earning herself the team captain's title.

Both Kendo and Aikido practice ended at the same time. A thought quickly came to mind as he was packing up. What if he were to walk with her? Just for today? He instantly got up and began walking towards her direction when something made him stop in his tracks.

Kazuha was already walking home, but with that same girl she sat with at lunch.

Had she always walked with her? When did this happen?

His shoulder dropped, but he found himself following them, but making sure he stayed a good distance behind, so not to be seen. But not long after, his mood lightened as he learned that Izumi parted ways with Kazuha. _So they only walk together for a few blocks_

When they spotted her house, Heiji noticed Kazuha pulling out her cell. Having his interest peaked, he decided to get close enough to listen.

"Hey dad, it's me" she paused, "Yeah, I was just gonna let you know that I'm going to go shopping, I'll bring food" pause "Okay thanks!"

_Shopping? _He watched her run into her house, he waited. His eyes widen when she came back. She wore short black shorts with a black shirt to match and a white blazer on. She wore small black high-heeled hiking boots that went nicely with her long legs. Her hair was still left undone.

"guessing she went back to her french clothes" he murmured.

She began walking towards the mall, as well did he. When they reached the mall, Heiji quickly grew annoyed as he noticed all the guys staring at her. And what irritated him even more was that she didn't even notice the effect she had on them!

"Just calm down Heiji" he told himself before noticing Kazuha go into a small tea shop. She had placed her order and went to sit down, having a book in her hand. She seemed engrossed in it, her eyes never leaving the paper even as she took a small sip of her tea. Occasionally she would let out a small laugh, making Heiji smile.

He decided to get a bite to eat, seeing as she wasn't about to leave any time soon.

When he came back, he realized she was already gone. Alarmed, he went off in search for her. After a few minutes, he noticed the white blazer and sighed. He had found her, and it seemed as if she was leaving already. He followed behind, walking a good distance before she stopped at a small restaurant. He waited as she had a bag of food in her hands before continuing their walk.

He made sure she made it back safely before heading back to his place. "Hello?" he called out, but no one answered. Seemed his parents decided to go out. He went to the fridge, getting himself a drink.

Deciding he was tired, he went up to his room and laid on his bed, thinking of today's events. He was still upset that he still couldn't solve his little mystery. Why couldn't he stop thinking about her? Why weren't his questions answered!?

He groaned as he quickly grew agitated.

_So what if she's happy? What's it to you? _He stiffened at the words from his unconscious mind. _You WERE the one who deserted her, making sure you wouldn't get near her or even talk to her. _He felt a slight pain in his chest. _but I had too! She was getting too..._he let out a long sigh, _too close...  
><em>

It was true, it was his fault. He let his past affect his friendship he once held dear.

But...he could change that? Couldn't he?

A small hint of hope surged through him, making him smile before he soon drifted off to sleep.

He dreamt of a certain faired skinned ahou, with alluring deep green eyes...

000

Once again, I have to apologize for keeping you all in the dark. School's started and it's my senior year, and I've just been oober busy with cross country, sholarships, school etc..

Hopefully this chapter has made it up to you! I promised I wouldn't give up on this story and I intend to keep that promise =)

Please please please review! I really need some input right now! Love you all!

(Oh, and do you guys like it when I write back to your comments here? I had one person telling me otherwise and I wanted to ask if everyone else felt the same. Please let me know!)

Untill next time! (And there will be!) =D


	13. Chapter 13

Thanks everyone for reviewing!

Please enjoy!

000

(Normal POV)

"Good morning Kazuha! Did you have a nice weekend?" The young brown-haired girl smiled, it had been a while since anybody had asked her that, "I did, did you?" In an instant Izumi's eyes brightened, as if expecting this very question.

"Oh I did! On Saturday I was out walking and accidentally bumped into someone and so..." Kazuha stifled a laugh as Izumi began ranting on about some guy she had just met. While still listening to her friend's story, her thoughts sort of wandered off, thinking about how for once, things were actually...normal. Though the thought had never occurred to her before, she found herself realizing how much she MISSED normal. _Now THAT'S a first, _she thought, laughing inwardly.

Remembering that she was suppose to be listening to her Izumi's story, she quickly brushed her thoughts away.

"And he was SOO cute! And a gentleman might I say and-"

"Izumi!" Her arms grabbed a hold of her shoulders, making her stop mid-sentence with wide eyes. "Now...take a deep breath" She did, and the two stayed quiet, staring back at each other. After a few quiet moments, the two soon ended up laughing out loud, making a few of their classmates turn their heads around.

It took them a while for the two to finally catch their breath.

Izumi gave her friend a sheepish look, "I was rambling on wasn't I?"

"For about 15 minutes give or take"

Izumi quickly apologized, "Gomen! I didn't know, sorry, it's just, well...I had a REALLY good weekend"

"I can see" Kazuha replied, letting out a small smirk, "So when will you two meet again?" Izumi quickly reddened, "Oh, w-well, umm, I don't think we will..." One of Kazuha's brow went up, "Well why not?"

Izumi looked down, "Well, it's just...I don't know, I'm not sure he likes me like that"

Kazuha rolled her eyes at this, "Izumi, you just met him, you can't expect him to fall head over heels for you right away, just start by hanging out and getting to know each other more and then see where it takes off from there"

"Well...I guess you're right" she stammered

"Of course I am, now, you should ask him to go out with you tomorrow night"

a quick gasp escaped Izumi's mouth, "I-I can't just do that!" Kazuha crossed her arms, "And why not?"

"B-Because!" Kazuha gave her a look, "Because?"

Izumi frantically looked around, desperately trying to think of a reasonable answer, "Well...because..." and after a few moments, she finally admitted to defeat, to which Kazuha smiled in triumph. But her victory was soon cut short as she noticed Izumi's weak smile. And in a small voice, Izumi whispered "if you saw him you'd understand"

Not quite 'understanding' her, she asked, "Well what do you mean?"

She took note at how uncomfortable Izumi looked, "well, see, it's just that...(sigh)" she closed her eyes and slowly opened them back up, "how could someone so handsome and funny like him, possibly like someone like me?"

It took Kazuha a moment to fully grasp her words before she stared at her in disbelief, _Izumi...do you really think so little of yourself?_ Anger quickly washed over her, "Izumi" she called out, but she stayed silent, "Izumi. Look at me."

She did, her eyes looking hollow.

"Don't EVER think of yourself less worthy for anyone. And never ever let them tell you otherwise." Izumi was about to protest, but Kazuha didn't give her a chance, "You are smart, beautiful, funny, a great friend, and I can go on and on, but the point is, any guy would be lucky to have you, and if they don't see that, then it's their loss"

"You're just saying that to make me feel better huh?" she laughed, choking back tears

Kazuha scoffed at her, "I wouldn't lie to you" she replied, her head turned and arms crossed. She was caught off guard when Izumi's arms wrapped themselves around her, but the shock quickly dispersed when she heard a soft 'thank you'.

A smile tugged at her lips once she hugged her back. After a few moments, they both let go, "Now, how about asking him to a movie?" Izumi let out a laugh and slowly nodded, "O-Okay"

Hours later when school was ultimately done for the day, the two had met up at their usual spot, prepared to go home.

"Ready to go?"

Izumi smiled widely, "Yup!" Kazuha swung her bag onto her back, "So what movie do you think you and that guy should watch?" Kazuha casually asked.

"Uhh, I'm not sure" her cheeks were soon tinted with small specks of pink, "Definitely not a romance movie!"

And for what now seemed to be a daily routine, the two broke out into a small fit of laughter before continuing their conversation.

It wasn't long after they had began walking that they had noticed a figure behind them. _Hmm, odd, we're usually always alone..._Kazuha thought and tried to see who it was from the corner of her eye but it was no use, she secretly nudged Izumi, "Hey, can you see who's behind us?"

confused, she turned her head "Umm, well-"

"Don't turn your head!" she whispered loudly, stopping Izumi.

Izumi quickly turned her head away, "Kazuha?" she nervously asked, but Kazuha was too focused to hear her. She purposely slowed their pace down and listened to see if the person behind them would slow down as well.

They did.

"I think we're being followed" she whispered to Izumi who instantly became worried, "Don't worry, I'll handle it" she assured her.

Before Izumi had a chance to ask what she meant by that, Kazuha had abruptly stopped and turned to their follower, grabbing him by the wrist and gracefully flipping him over.

Izumi let out a small gasp, closing her eyes.

Kazuha reached down and grabbed him by the shirt, "Who are you and why are you following-" further words failed to come out of her mouth as her whole body instantly froze. "Kazuha? What's wrong?" But Izumi's words were so distant that Kazuha barely heard her. She was too lost in her thoughts. Her heartbeat quickened as dark, green pools stared into her own. Before she could get lost in them, She quickly forced herself to let go.

It was then Izumi saw who it was. "Oh my gosh! It's Heiji Hattori!" she bent down and offered her hand, "we're so sorry, we thought someone was following us, but we didn't know it was just you!" She continued on apologizing as he took her hand and stood up. But his eyes never left _hers_.

"It's alright" he said, stopping Izumi from going on, "It was my fault" he said carefully, though his eyes made the statement seem more towards _her_, but she only gave him a blank expression.

Not noticing the tension between the two, Izumi smiled happily, "Well where are you off to? I-If you don't mind me asking"

"Uh, home," he broke his glance and looked to Izumi, "I live not too far from here" he explained, placing his hands in his pockets

Knowing her friend all too well, she quickly intervened "Well we really have to go-" but it was too late. "Oh I know! Why don't you walk with us then!" Kazuha glared at Izumi, but she took no notice. She let out a long, heavy sigh, silently begging for him to say no.

"If you don't mind" he replied, giving Izumi a small smile

She took the bait. "Of course we don't!"

Kazuha inwardly groaned. _Great..._

The walk was fairly silent, well, except for Izumi being the only one talking. Kazuha's heart quickened as they neared the dreaded turn Izumi needed to take, since that would mean she'd be left alone...with _him_

"Kay well this is my stop!" Izumi cheerfully said, waving goodbye, "see you tomorrow Kazuha!"  
>Kazuha nodded, inhaling and exhaling deeply before she went on walking, not caring if he followed her, to which he did. Even so, she tried her best to ignore him and took comfort in thinking that she at least didn't have to talk to him.<p>

"Kazuha..."

With just one word, her comfort was quickly destroyed.

_No matter, _she told herself and forced her eyes to stare straight ahead. She could hear his hair being ruffled by his hand, "Kazuha" he tried once more, his tone more firm, but she didn't care.

"Ahou!" he shouted, placing himself in front of her. She sent him a glare before walking around him. "Will you just _listen_ to me!" he cried out.

Something inside her snapped. She turned around, facing him. "What!" she cried out, staring him straight on, "What Heiji, What do you HAVE to say to me?" he opened his mouth to speak "Oh I know, why don't you start by telling me how supposedly my once childhood best friend is now a total stranger? Or why he's been avoiding me? Hmm? Go ahead, Please, tell me, cuz I'm DYING to know!" she cried out sarcastically.

She watched as he flinched, "That's what I thought" she said and walked past him. It took him a mere few seconds to go after her, "Kazuha wait" But she didn't stop, and so he was basically power walking, trying to keep up with her. "Look, I'm sorry-" She stopped and faced him.

"Why are you even doing this? What do you want?"

He let out a sigh, "For you to hear me out"

She scoffed, shaking her head, "Unbelievable...and why should I?"

"Because, I'm sorry, I know what I did was unforgivable"

"yup"

"..."

"and I don't expect you to forgive me right away, but..." he felt his whole body begin to shake, "I want a second chance...please"

He looked absolutely nervous, unsure. Never seeing him like this before, she found herself taken aback. A small part of her desperately wanted to forgive him, to forget everything and go back to how things were. But the image of him casting her aside made her think otherwise. Forgive him? No, she couldn't, not after what he had put her through.

she had on her best poker-face, "...I don't know if I can"

Something quickly flashed in his eyes before she turned and walked away. When she was sure he was out of sight, she ran to her house and slammed the door behind her. Hot tears blurred her vision, not because she was sad, but because she was angry, and confused. Why? why now was this happening to her? Especially when she had JUST gotten her life back on track, why did _he_ just had to pop back up into her life again!

She threw herself onto her bed, _what do I do now? _"I don't have to do _anything _at all!" _  
><em>

000

So? PLEASE review! I need some feedback right now =) I'm sorry for updating late, but I really wanted this chapter to be long and good, and I know I haven't been really eventful, but hopefully this made up for it!

And thank you guys!

Daz Lee: Thanks! And I'm glad! =D

Miss Detective: It's because I really do care about what each person thinks about my fics, it helps a lot! Thanks, but hopefully I update soon since christmas break is near! Thank you!

Guest: Sorry, but I promise I will be more eventful, and thanks for being patient with me!

Animevy116: It did? Aww thanks! you don't know how much that means to me ^-^ And no review is EVER too long ;)

salimaran08: Wait, are you "Guest"? Cuz you have the same review as him/her? Oh well, either way thanks! lol

KFArtyLover: yup yup ^-^ Thanks again for always reading and reviewing!

000

Kay so the majority of you liked that I wrote my little messages of gratitude for you so I'm keeping it! YAY!

I love writing them to you guys because it's the only way I can think of to show you how much your review means to me ^-^ and now I'm getting a bit too gushy so I'll quickly end this by selfishly asking for more of your reviews! Please and Thank You!

Dreambee


	14. Chapter 14

000

(Kazuha)

The light of breaking dawn crept inside her room, signaling the start of a new day. But she didn't want to wake up, for that would mean she'd have to go to school and no doubt _he'd_ be there...no, she shook her head, this isn't like her. She forced her body to abandon the warmth of her covers. A_t least it's a Friday _she thought, which gave her strength to quickly get ready. Normally she'd be ecstatic, wondering what the day might bring her, but memories of the previous day were still fresh on her mind, which had left her unable to get a full night's rest.

She reached for the brush while staring at herself in the mirror, her thoughts wandering back to _him_ and how she'd have to see him. Just the thought of seeing him face to face once more made her uneasy and she debated on whether or not to just skip, to at least have a day to get her head straight. "No", she said and sighed, "what good would that do, better to just get it over with", she thought out loud while brushing her hair. Content with her plan, she quickly got dressed and yelled a goodbye to her dad, wherever in the house he may be, and ran out the door.

It had only taken a few mere steps for her to mentally curse at herself for not skipping the day.

"What do you think you're doing here."

He looked up, his lips firm in a straight line, while his eyes stared deep into her own. She stared him down, but his gaze was so strong, that she had to look away. "Well?" She asked, but still he didn't answer. He just stood there, waiting.

Seeing as how she was going to be late, she quickly rolled her eyes and walked past him. She had hoped that her legs were fast enough to leave him behind. But to her dismay, he easily kept up with her pace. After a few strides her legs began to go numb and she decided there was no point in tiring herself, and so she slowed her pace down to a walk. She at least made sure to keep her distance. With each silent minute, it grew harder and harder to wait for him to talk.

But he didn't.

She let out a small grunt and fixed her eyes back onto the road ahead of them. Relief coursed through her body once she saw the school building. She would be okay, she told herself, the day would go by quickly and then she wouldn't have to worry about any of this!

Her legs moved a bit faster, _Almost there-_

She felt something warm grab her hand, pulling her back. She looked back and was astonished to find that it was Heiji's hand. "W-What are you doing?" she stuttered out, quickly retrieving her hand from his grasp, her cheeks turning a rosy pink. His eyes were fixed on hers and she could of sworn she saw something quickly flash in them but was distracted as he reached for her hand again, pulling her away from the school and to another block.

"H-Heiji! Let go of me!" she tried once more to free her hand, but found herself unable to. _Damn_ _he's strong! _"We're gonna be late-"

"We need to talk." they had stopped moving

She slightly froze at the tone of his voice, and was momentarily stunned by his piercing eyes that were glaring right at her. But it took her a few seconds to clear her mind, "I don't want to talk, now let go of my hand!"

"No" he continued walking

She was about to protest some more when she heard the school bells go off. She knew she would be late by now, but that still didn't stop her from trying to free her hand. But she failed miserably. She mentally cursed at herself for being the school's top student in aikido and not being able to free herself, but then again in her defense, she couldn't flip him over because somehow he knew exactly where to hold her, leaving her defenseless. And so after many failed attempts of escape, she had to accept the fact that she wasn't getting out of this. She'd might as well get it over with she told herself, she let out a small sigh "sooo...mind telling me where we're going?" though knowing that she probably shouldn't be talking to him, she couldn't hide the fact that she was indeed curious to know what he was thinking.

He looked over his shoulder and she did her best to have on her poker face, she was surprised to feel his hand lessen its grip on hers, though he still had a hold on her that wouldn't enable her to run away, but hey, at least it was a start. His eyes stared out into space as if trying to find a simple explanation to her question before he looked at her from the corner of his eye, "somewhere away, where we wont have any interruptions

oh? She hadn't really expected that answer. "Why?" but he didn't answer her. She let out a sigh, a small smile appeared on her lips as she thought about how others might have viewed her situation as a bit dangerous, but she, though still very mad at him, knew Heiji would never physically harm her, now emotionally hurt her, even unintentionally, well yeah (her smile quickly vanished), he was already capable of doing that.

He continued being quiet, and so she decided to let her thoughts wander into space.

She hadn't noticed that they'd stop walking until he cleared his throat which broke her train of thought as she eyed their location. They were near a park, on a trail where there was a bench not too far from where they stood.

She silently kicked herself for being slightly upset when he let go of her hand. "So...care to explain why you made me skip school to bring me here?" she crossed her arms and impatiently waited.

He closed his eyes as he took a deep breath in, "I wanted to talk to you" he breathed out

"I got that, but what in fact would you like to talk about that couldn't wait till hmm maybe after school?" she saw him flinch at her tone, seems like lately she's been having that affect on him which made her instantly feel bad, but she couldn't allow him to see how vulnerable she actually felt whenever he was near her.

"Kazuha..." she felt her heart jump at the sound of her name from his lips, "I'm sorry that I've been ignoring you-"

She took a step back from him, which alarmed him, but she held one hand up, "I'm not leaving" she said, standing still. She looked down, reminiscing how _he'd _be the one who'd leave after practice, and how he'd go to lengths to avoid her. Her blood began to boil, You know what? I was just thinking that, yeah, we've known each other since we were little and sure we didn't see each other for a few years, but..."she felt a lump rise in her throat, "When I came back, I was so happy to see you again" she choked out a laugh, "but then you...well, I guess maybe our friendship didn't mean much to you since it was so easy for you to toss me aside-"

"It did!" he quickly called out, startling her, but then quickly looked down, "I-I mean it still does..."

"Then why? Why would you purposely hurt me like that?" she took note on his hesitation, "I mean, that _is _why you brought me here to talk about, right?" she asked. He began walking towards the bench, taking a seat. She followed.

She was surprised to see how distressed he looked, but she had to know, so she tried asking once more, softly, "...please" he held his head between his hands, "I...I never meant to hurt you..." She could feel herself shaking, "Then why?" she waited for what seem like forever until softly he spoke "...you were getting too close..." it was so low that she barely heard him. "What?"

He head shot up, his green eyes locking onto hers as he repeated himself, "because you were getting too close...to me"

Confusion struck her as she felt her heart jump. If he's saying what she thinks he's saying...no, he couldn't mean that...right?

"I...I don't understand"

He let out a long sigh, "It was some time after you left for France that I...met someone, her name was Chou" Kazuha felt a pang of hurt. Of course he didn't...(sigh)...though she was asked out many times, she had always rejected the boys back in France. Her friends had questioned her, but her heart was always set on Heiji. Somehow, she knew she would see him again. And of course she also knew the possibility of him having been in a relationship...but to have it confirmed...she couldn't dare look at him right now.

"She was smart, beautiful and...I thought I loved her" the knife in her heart dug itself deeper "...what happened to her?" she slowly asked, her eyes never once looking at his. He laid his head back to watch the sky, letting out a long sigh, "I found her making out with one of my friends"

Kazuha's eyes went wide as her head shot up, facing him._  
><em>

"I changed after that, making sure not to trust anyone and ever letting them see me that vulnerable...I remember not wanting to ever feel like that again" He slowly turned to her, giving her a small smile, "And then you came"

He let out a shaky laugh, "you appeared out of nowhere and already you were mad at me for not remembering who you were." Kazuha let out a small laugh, Heiji's eyes never leaving her face

"With each passing day, you began breaking every wall I put up to protect myself...and I got scared" he looked away, ashamed.

Kazuha suddenly felt brave, "what changed your mind?"

He smiled, "somehow, I couldn't stop missing your stubbornness, loud arguments, long hair and-" he quickly looked away, his cheeks heavily tinted with red.

She could feel her heart doing somersaults. "...so what now?"

He stood up, "Well...can we just start over?" the somersaults quickly ended, "Start over?"

"Yeah, I mean, back to when you came back" he said with a smile, "back to us being childhood best friends" She felt her heart drop back down, "I-" his face was so sincere, "I'd like that" her lips forced a smile at the sight of him thanking her

"Well, sorry about making you skip school, but it'd be pointless to go back now" he said, "wanna go grab a bite? My treat"

Kazuha simply nodded, "Great! I know a perfect place, it's not too far..." she just nodded, but really his previous words were still running through her mind. _Friends..._j_ust friends huh? _A long sigh escaped her lips, her eyes slowly looked up to his face...it really had been a while since she'd last seen him smiling.

She would settle for childhood friends if it meant keeping him happy

Though this Chou girl was still in the back of her mind...who was she? How could she break his heart? Did she ever love him back?

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I think I've found more time to spend on this story =D

Thank you all who reviewed!

Miss Detective: haha thanks! hope you liked this chapter!

Aniemvy166: Awww thanks! I don't know if it's the best, but I'm really happy you like it! ^-^Hahaha you'll have to keep reading to find out ;) Arigato!

Daz Lee: hopefully this chapter was at least good, I'm not sure if it was exciting, but don't worry, it will in a bit, maybe in the next chapter or 2 :)

KFArtyLover: Thank you! And no, I wouldn't want you to cry! Well, at least they're back to friends, but now we'll see if anything will actually happen between these two or whether they'll be a tragedy and always remain friends, who knows? ;)

Devil's Secret: PLEASE DON'T CRY! I will do my best to make whatever type of relationship they have progress, or I don't know, maybe go bad, you'll just have to see!

Guest: Thank you! yeah I know, usually I suck in the beginning of my stories, but then I get comfortable with it and just write everything that's going in my head...okay well not everything, but you get me =)

sha5aditto: will do promise!

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I really would like to thank you all for not giving up on me and this fanfic! I swear to you guys that I will finish it! Arigato!

Until next time!


	15. Chapter 15

So as promised, here we go!

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( Few days later )

The world around her was slowly fading into an irritating blur as did the teacher's stern voice. Her eyes begged to close and be lost into the comfort of the darkness that would allow her to rest, but she was in school, she _should _be focusing. She stifled a yawn, _five minutes wouldn't do me any harm...__  
><em>

_Tchut!_

Her eyes shot open as her hand found its way to her hair. Her fingers pulled out a nicely done paper airplane as they unfolded it to reveal the message:

**_Ahou, can you at least try to stay awake?_**

She turned and glared at him, he snickered when she stuck out her tongue at him. She rolled her eyes and faced back towards the direction of the teacher, slightly annoyed, but a smile formed as she thought about the past few days. Things had been going pretty well, she was back to talking more with Ran and Shinichi, though she still sat with Izumi at lunch. Things between heiji and her had improved, they were back to walking together before and after school, along with Izumi of course, but overall, Kazuha felt relieved.

The bells rang, forcing Kazuha out of her thoughts. She began gathering her things, "Looks like you managed not to fall asleep for the rest of the hour" she turned around, "I was _not _falling asleep"

"Whatever 'Zuha" he grinned

They headed out the door and towards their last class of the day. Once they reached outside, one boy and girl each came up to them, "There's no practice today Heiji" "There's also no practice for us too Kazuha, apparently we get the day off"

"Really? That's great!" Heiji said and then faced Kazuha, "Guess we can go home early" Kazuha was about to agree when suddenly she frowned, "Izumi will be expecting me here in an hour though" she dropped her bag and sat beneath a nearby tree, "you go ahead, I'm gonna wait for her"

Heiji groaned, surprising Kazuha as he took a seat next to her, "guess I'll wait for her too"

Kazuha shook her head, "you really don't have to-"

"Nah it's okay, got nothing better to do, besides, it's nice outside" Kazuha gave him her most genuine smile, "Arigato" Heiji was cut off guard and found himself staring at her... He blinked a few times before quickly turning away after noticing what he was doing. "N-no problem" he mentally cursed himself for being a bit flustered, but at least Kazuha didn't seem to notice, at least he hoped.

"She shouldn't be that long anyways" she softly said, closing her eyes, welcoming the sun's warmth.

Heiji nodded and soon found himself doing the same. _The weather really is nice today, _he thought, slowly closing his eyes, also feeling the heat on his tanned skin.

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Izumi quickly raced down to the fields. She had just found out that Kazuha's aikido practice had been canceled and knowing her, she had probably stayed to wait on her. She stopped once she reached the fields, taking short gasps of air. Nothing. She walked around for a bit till she caught sight of her brown hair.

Izumi sprinted towards her, "Kazuha! I'm sooo sorry! I didn't know-" Her hands instantly went up to her mouth, cutting off her own words. Slowly she removed them as a small smile appeared on her lips. "Well, would you look at that" she whispered. Kazuha and Heiji were both sound asleep.

Kazuha had her head laid on his shoulders while Heiji had his on top of her head. The sight was simply adorable that Izumi had to giggle.  
>"You know...you two really look good together" she whispered<p>

It had been a while that Izumi had been thinking this, she knew the two shared a connection that she couldn't quite understand, making her at first ponder on the thought of them being a couple, but once she found out that they were long childhood best friends, her thoughts were immediately confirmed. But she hadn't told Kazuha any of this, hoping that they would figure it out for themselves.

She took a small glance at Heiji, "you sure are one lucky girl Kazuha...he sure is handsome" she continued staring at them, not sure whether or not to wake them up. She let out a sigh, "Oh I know!" she got out her phone and pointed it towards her friends, "You'll thank me one day Kazuha" she giggled

The small snapshot sound was loud enough to make both of them stir. Izumi quickly put her phone away and acted as if nothing happened.

"Morning you two" she said in a cheerful voice

Kazuha and Heiji both squinted their eyes and stifled out a small yawn. It took both of them a moment to realize the position they were in.

Izumi let out a laugh as she witness the two quickly stand up straight, with both of their faces the shades of dark red. Kazuha was the first to speak, "H-How long have you been standing there?" Izumi smiled, "mmmmm long enough" Kazuha began shaking her head, "I-I'm so sorry Izumi! I didn't mean to fall asleep!"

Izumi shrugged her shoulders, "It's fine, I'm just glad you guys stayed to wait on me...sorta" she teased

Kazuha gave her a small glare before shaking her head, "Come on, let's just get going" Izumi let out a laugh before nodding, "Oh alright"

Halfway through their walk, Izumi turned and waved at them, "Bye you guys! See you on Monday!" She gave Kazuha a wink before taking the turn. "I'm pretty sure she's sending me death glares at the moment" she laughed out. She turned for one last glance and saw them walking away, "They'd definitely make a cute couple" she said with a smile.

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(Back with the Ahous)

"I can't believe we fell asleep!" Kazuha yelled out, "It's so embarrassing!"

Heiji laughed at her, "Well we can't do anything about that now can we?" Kazuha held her head low, "No, I guess not" She glanced over at him, watching him stretch his arms, "but you sure don't seem to be embarrassed at all"

Heiji continued stretching, "Oh trust me, I am, but probably not as much as you" he let out a sigh, "man that was a good nap"

Kazuha smiled, he was right, it was refreshing. "Today really is a beautiful day isn't it?"

"Yeah, I guess" He took a look around, "I'm just glad it's finally friday" Kazuha nodded in agreement, "The weather is perfect for running, I'll definitely have to go later on"

Heiji stopped dead in his tracks, looking at her wide-eyed, Kazuha noticed, "What?"

Heiji just shook his head, "Since when have you liked running!?"

Kazuha smiled, "It was something I picked up back in France, you'd be amazed at how relaxing it is, especially if you have a beautiful scenery such as over there, but I haven't been _here_ in a while, I'm excited to look around some more" she continued walking, "Staying in shape is just a bonus"

He crossed his arms, "So you do it for the scenery, hmmm, never thought of it that way" he took a moment to think, "Mind if I join you?"

Now it was Kazuha's turn to stare at him wide-eyed, "Umm, sure" she stopped at the front of her door

"Great, I'll meet you here in 10 minutes" He took off running before she could even say a word. _Running with Heiji...that'll be fun _she went up to her room to change into her black running capris tights and loose pale green tank top. She wrapped her hair in a pony tail, adding a braid to it for a little style.

She grabbed her running shoes and left a note for her dad before heading out the door. "Wow you were fast" Heiji was wearing black shorts and a tank as well, "Well I haven't been running in a while, so don't judge"

Heiji took in her outfit, "Umm, Heiji? You ready?" He quickly snapped back into reality, "Yeah, but I'm pretty sure you've ran more than me" Kazuha rolled her eyes, "You're captain of the Kendo team, I'm pretty sure you're in good if not excellent shape"

Heiji grinned, "True, so where to?"

"I found a trail not too far from here, how about there first?" Heiji nodded, and so the two took off. They quickly found themselves on a trail by the park. Heiji was surprised to see her actually keeping up with him, of course he could go a little faster if he wanted to, but then they would be sprinting instead of 'running'. He turned to look at her, her big eyes were shining as she took in their surroundings until they landed onto his. "Why are you smiling?" Startled, he let out a nervous laugh, "I never thought anyone could enjoy just looking at trees"

Kazuha began to slow down until she stopped. "It's because you're over-thinking this, for once, you just need to turn off that brain of yours and just see and I mean really _see _the world around you" _  
><em>

He gave her a weird look, and began laughing a little, "What?"

Kazuha sighed, "Just look around you, what do you see?" He sighed as he did what she asked, "Trees, lots of them"

She rolled her eyes, "Geez for a well known detective you sure are narrow minded" Heiji was about to protest, but she cut him off, "Look over there!" He turned, "What?"

"Do you see that rabbit over there?" He rolled his eyes, "It's a rabbit, so what?"

She crossed her arms, "Close your eyes, do you hear that?" He let out a sigh, but again, did as she asked. Moments passed, but still he heard nothing. He was about to give up and say this was pointless until far off he began to hear a bird singing. "I hear...a bird?" he said, his eyes still closed, though it sounded more like a question than an answer

"Yes, now what else do you hear, past the bird"

He inhaled deeply, trying once more. And there it was, far off in the distant, he heard running waters. He opened his eyes, "I didn't know there was any running water around here, I mean I wouldn't doubt it but...?"

Kazuha nodded with excitement, "Let's go check it out!" she began taking off, leaving Heiji running after her. "You know this is way off the path right?" he called out.

"That's the point!" He let out a laugh

The sound of running waters grew louder as the two began to slow down. "Well where is it?" Heiji asked but then all of a sudden they both did nothing but stare.

"It's...beautiful" Kazuha whispered

In front of them was a medium size waterfall with waters so blue, it was practically mesmerizing. Small bouquet of flowers surrounded it, and the way the sun shined through the leaves of the tall trees surrounding them made it all seem so surreal.

"I never even knew this place existed" Heiji continued looking at it in awe

Kazuha walked up near the water and placed her hand in it, "It's nice and cool" he stuck his hand in as well and agreed.

It stayed quiet for a few minutes, "...I should go running with you more often"

Kazuha began laughing and soon so did Heiji.

They spent the rest of the day laying down on the grass, talking and just enjoying each other's presence. Time had gone by so fast that Heiji was the first to suggest they head back home.

Kazuha was reluctant, but soon agreed. But before they reached home, Heiji offered to buy them smoothies. "You didn't have to pay Heiji, I brought money" Heiji grabbed their drinks and handed her drink to her. "It's fine, just think of it as my way of thanking you for today"

Kazuha smiled, "you're welcome?" He smiled. She took a sip from her drink, as did Heiji, but his eyes never left her. "Umm 'Zuha?" She looked up, "yeah?"

"I forgot to ask, but Ran and Shinichi are going to the amusement park on sunday, and they invited us, wanna go?" She thought he looked a bit nervous to her, but was too excited to care. "I'd love to! Wow, it's been so long since I've last been to one!"

"Great! I'll text you and let you know where we'll meet" Kazuha nodded

Soon after, he walked her back home, saying good night. Kazuha smiled as she shut the door, today really had been a great day. One she hasn't had in a long time.

"Kazuha? Is that you?" her dad called out, snapping her out of her thoughts. She turned, "Coming!"

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This chapter was just for fluff =) But SPOILER ALERT: SOMEONE WE'VE ONLY HEARD OF SHOULD BE ARRIVING IN THESE UPCOMING CHAPTERS!

Thank you all who've still stuck to this story, I truly am sorry I take forever to update!

Hope you liked it!


	16. Chapter 16

Hey guys I know it's been a long time but I'm going through a big move and I finally graduated! So I'm doing my best but Im not giving up that's for sure.

enjoy!

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Kazuha looked at her reflection in the mirror, she wore a white loose tank top with a cream colored cardigan, blue jean shorts and had lightly curled her hair. Back in France, her friends had introduced her to the curling iron, she was at first skeptical as to how'd it look on her, but to her surprise, she liked it, very much.

_perfect! _At that moment, her phone began to go off, it was her alarm. "Better hurry up" she told herself, grabbing her bag.

The train station wasn't very far away, but she still walked a bit faster than normal. Once in sight, she quickly entered and immediately spotted Ran.

"Hey Ran!" she turned around and stared, "Oh my gosh Kazuha! Is that really you? I love your hair!"

Kazuha laughed, blushing a bit. "Arigato, I usually curl it from time to time, but needed to buy a curling iron since I forgot my old one back in France"

"Well it looks great, oh and the boys will be here in a bit, they went to go get us maps of the amusement park"

Kazuha nodded as they patiently waited for them.

"there they are" Shinichi and Heiji both held a small pamphlet as they walked towards them, talking to one another. "Hey sorry for keeping you guys waiting, hey Kazuha, nice hair"

Heiji turned.

"Arigato" she looked at Heiji and smiled, but he just stared. He was too mesmerized to do anything. She looked amazing, not once could he remember seeing her hair curled, but it wasn't even just the hair, she was glowing. She looked happy, and her green eyes appeared to shine as bright as her smile.

"Well come on, lets get going"

Shinichi's voice snapped him out of his thoughts, as everyone agreed and stepped onto the train. Heiji stayed quiet and followed.

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"Yay we'e here!" Kazuha shouted, happily. The rest laughed, making Kazuha blush, seemed like lately she'd been doing that a lot.

"Gomen, it's been a while since I've last been to an amusement park" Everyone looked at her, "then lets get going!"

Kazuha lit up and they immediately went off. They took turns choosing what rides to go on, luckily, they all liked the big roller coasters.

Hours had passed and Ran and Shinichi decided to go their separate ways, Heiji and Kazuha had no problem with that, they could tell that they wanted a few hours for themselves. After separating, Kazuha turned and gave Heiji a weird look, he noticed and raised one eyebrow.

"Is something wrong?" She asked. He blinked, "ummm no, why?"

She continued staring at him, "I don't know, you seem a little off, you haven't really said much today"

He smiled, which caught her off guard. Only she would notice when something was bothering him, he'd never known anyone else who had that 6th sense that she did. What she said was true, something was bothering him.

Just as he was about to answer, something caught his attention. "How about we ride the Ferris wheel?"

She gave him a questionably look, "...sure"

They got on, it wasn't the Ferris wheel where you'd sit, it was the one which could fit about 5 people, but it was just them two.

"Okay...so you still haven't told me what's been bothering you" Kazuha crossed her arms, she began feeling uneasy.

Heiji let out a long sigh as he looked out the window, could he tell her? What would she say? He glanced back at her, as if she would answer his thoughts. By now Kazuha had grown worry, "Heiji-"

"I lied to you, when I said I just wanted us to be friends..." there, he had said it.

She held a straight face, emotionless though inside she was the complete opposite. Was he taking it back? Did he not want to be friends anymore?

"...what?" her voice was just above a whisper. Her eyes went wide when he began closing the little gap they already had between them. She felt her back pressed up against the glass, her heart pounding in her chest and for a brief moment, she wondered if he could hear it.

But Heiji's mind was somewhere else. All he could think about were her lips, and how they'd feel against his own. Not sure when exactly, but it's a thought that's haunted him for a while now...

_now._

Now...now he wasn't sure what exactly he was doing. His struggle for control failed miserably. All he could see was her._  
><em>

He caressed her cheek with his right hand, smiling as her once pink blush got darker. His thoughts were all over the place, yelling at him to stop now, to let her go, but when Kazuha whispered his name once more, there was nothing left but silence.

Their faces were now just an inch away, but there was a pause as both of them stared at each other once more. Heiji leaned in...

The door opened and he instinctively pulled away as a group of friends entered in laughing. Kazuha stood frozen, her face still red. She glanced at Heiji, who was facing the other way. _What...what just happened? _Or more like, what didn't just happen.

She let out a frustrated sigh, careful though to not let him hear. They were _so _close! And what actually brought this on all of a sudden? She continued staring at him, but again, he didn't dare look at her now.

The doors opened once more, Heiji practically ran no sprinted out, leaving Kazuha by herself.

She went after him, but Heiji was gone, no where in sight.

"Heiji!" she called out, "Heiji!"

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The next two hours she ran around searching for him, not caring about the looks people gave her. _Where is he? Why doesn't he answer my calls? _She pulled out her phone and called him, but like the last six calls, all she got was his voice mail.

"Hey Heiji, it's me...can we talk? Please?" she hung up and placed it in her pocket. Just as she did, she felt it vibrate and quickly answered it, "Hey I was just-"

"Kazuha?" Her smile dropped, "Oh, Ran hi! What's up?"

"Hey, I was just calling in to tell you that Shinichi and I were thinking about heading off, you and Heiji wanna come?" _So he's not with them either..._"Umm actually, I still wanna stay here for a bit, you two go ahead"

"Okay! See you later" She hung up. The park should be closing in about an hour, but she didn't want to leave without him without asking him why. She grabbed her phone once more.

**_Hey it's me again, can we please talk? I'll be waiting at a bench near the carousel _**

It was a short text, she didn't want to sound desperate, but she was just confused. What exactly happened-well _almost _happened back there? What did he mean he doesn't want to be just friends? Did he mean to say he wanted them to be more? But then why now? What changed? And if he did, why would he just leave her then?

She let out a frustrated sigh, _I'll find out when he comes _she told herself.

She waited...and waited...occasionally she'd check the time. Few people were still roaming around. Her eyes began closing as she laid her head on her hand. An hour passed and she was half asleep.

A hand woke her up, a smile grew on her lips as she turned, "Heiji-" but it was someone else, "Umm, excuse me miss, but we're closing now" it was a janitor, he gave her an apologetic smile, to which she returned with her own. "Oh no, I'm sorry, I was waiting on someone...guess he didn't show..." she felt a tug in her heart, "I'm so sorry, I'll be on my way"

The man smiled sadly, "If I may...he's no good if he let a young, beautiful girl wait on him" and that's what did it for her. He couldn't possibly be making a move on her, he was probably just toying with her. But why? Why would he purposely hurt her? No...there had to be something else. Still, that alone didn't stop the pain she felt inside her. Still staring at the man, she nodded, and turned. She was the only one left, and if that alone didn't make her feel worse, the lights went out, making her feel more alone than ever.

"This is what I get for getting my hopes up...again" although technically _HE _was the one who...she let out a frustrated growl and headed for the train station. To her dismay, she apparently just missed the last train about a half an hour ago, meaning she had to walk for three hours to get home.

Her cheeks were already stained with streaks of tears by the time she reached home. No one was home. _Looks like Dad got the late shift again. _A sigh of relief washed over her as she headed into her room and onto her bed. She didn't even bother taking a shower.

She took one last glance at her phone, **No new messages**, and sighed, closing her eyes. They'd see each other soon enough, but what would she say? Not sure of her answer, she decided to worry about it later, letting sleep pull her under.

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Man, first of all, I really wanna thank those who've still kept true this fic and not giving up on it! Arigato! Also, not much fluff in this chapter i know, but I couldn't help it, I really wanted something to happen, but it'll take time! Thanks to those who reviewed, they always mean a lot to me! Thank you!

COSMiQ (Guest): wow thanks for taking up three hours of your time to read this ^-^ glad you liked it! You're from Germany? That's awesome! It's one of my main places I wanna go to travel!

marianne (Guest): Thank you! Also thanks for reading Misunderstanding, hopefully you liked the ending!

Animevy116: haha thanks, but sorry this chapter didn't have much adorableness =/ if anything, it may break whatever kind of relationship they have? Who knows, I'm really just going with it =) But i hope you liked it!

Icie911: Ooooo, I didn't really think about Makoto coming back...hmmmm...well, if he does I'll definitely credit you! Thanks!

Marwa Muj Afifi: Aww sorry, can't really make any promises about the ending right now, things are definitely gonna get heated between our favorite ahous, but we'll see! Thanks for reviewing and taking your time to read this story! means a lot!

Guest: =)

Miss Detective: Sorry that there wasn't much fluff in this chapter, I guess I just like the drama ^-^ thanks for staying true to this story! Will definitely eventually finish it! =D

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Once again thank you to all who reviewed, I'm pretty sure I got all of you, but if I missed one, I'm sorry, my computer kinda went berserk on me for a couple of hours. Anyways, hoped you liked it! We'll see what's in store for our ahous in the next chapter!

Arigato!

Dreambee


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